Blind Love
by TheSweetest
Summary: [SasuNaruSasu.][Now continued.] When the 16 year old ANBU captain Uzumaki Naruto finally gets a chance to bring back Sasuke to Konoha, he is met by a most unexpected surprise. Sasuke is blind.
1. Genjutsu

**Title**: Blind Love.

**Author**: TheSweetestKisses.

**Pairings**: SasuNaruSasu. More as the story progresses.

**Rating**: Mature for future chapters.

**Disclaimer**: Naruto isn't mine. (Cries!) No really, he belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, and all I own is this story and a load of fan art..

---

_Chapter one - Genjutsu._

_  
"BOSS! SOMETHING IS COMING THIS W-"_

Naruto sat up quickly, gasping for breath.

_Blink._

_Blink._

He blinked _once_, blinked _twice_ before he regained his composure and his ninja senses kicked in; suddenly he was pressed against the wall with the closest weapon at hand, which happened to be a chop stick, pointing at an imaginary enemy in the air in front of him.

Confusion.

_Who am I?_ He thought.

Naruto.

He was Naruto.

Why was he Naruto?

Because that was the first name that came to his mind.

But where was he?

_This is my own house._

Was it? What was he doing there? He couldn't remember. Sunlight seeped in through a small window above him and cast its light over his linoleum floor and the few objects that were located in the room. A little untidy, but that was okay. It had always been like that.

Had it?

Yes it had.

_I must have been taking a nap._

But he couldn't remember going to sleep.

Why would he 'take a nap' anyway? That was for old people.

A moment of confusion made him look at his hands. He brought them close to his face.

They were undoubtedly his own hands, meaning he was in his own young body..

But why wouldn't he be?

Hadn't he thought of that before? Why would he question it?

Yes, yes he had known why he doubted it.

And there it was again.

He felt out of place.

Why would he feel out of place in his own home?

And what in the name of God was he doing?

He scanned his surroundings for something suspicious, out of place, something that was not _Naruto_. But he found nothing at fault with the surroundings. He ruffled his hair and sighed deeply, then froze up.

_There it was._ But just as quickly as it had arrived, it disappeared. Like a shadow of something much too great to be understood by the simple mind of human. The feeling was overwhelming, and for a moment Naruto remembered everything...

_The pained cries of Genma reached his ears as his voice was cut off. A snakelike hiss was heard- it was painfully familiar to Naruto. Naruto quickly tapped the person next to him, that happened to be the team's medic, Sakura-chan, lightly three times on the shoulder in a special pattern. She immediately arose from her light sleep and did the same thing to the person sleeping next to her. The three ANBU looked at each other and made a silent agreement; Kiba nodded, signalling that he would stay to guard the person they were trying to protect from missing-nins together with the other two Chuunin that had for some reason accompanied them. Who had they been trying to protect, he must have been important?_

___Naruto and Sakura silently jumped up into the trees and followed Genma's chakra-traces. Suddenly Naruto stopped, and Sakura gasped and stumbled as-_

But just as the shadow, it had disappeared.

Naruto looked down towards the futon he had been sleeping on, and noticed that he had dropped the chop stick on it. He decided to ignore it for now and made his way out of the bedroom, entering the kitchen by doing so. Old milk, ramen packages and half-eaten fruit littered the kitchen. He slowly walked towards the window opposite of his bedroom door. It was open. The laughter of children playing on the playground outside filled his kitchen; he pushed aside the shades and stared down at them. The ten year old Konohamaru immediately looked up, and as he saw Naruto he grinned widely and gave him two thumbs up, then continued to chase Moegi and Udon. Naruto wanted to smile back, but found himself unable to do so.

Out. He had to get out. He had to find out what was wrong. He had to find himself.

Report to Hokage-sama, was the first thing that came to his mind. But no. He decided not to go there. He didn't want to go there.

No one looked oddly at the boy who was walking down the streets of Konoha in summer clothes the middle of the winter. In fact, no one stared oddly at Naruto at all. Most of them smiled at him, some even waved. Naruto bit his lip and quickened his pace. He again got that feeling. Something was wrong. Out of place. Not Naruto.

A bird suddenly caught his eyes. It wasn't an ordinary bird, Naruto found himself surprised to know. It was the one that hokage-sama used when she wanted Naruto to report to her office immediately. He watched it swirl over the rooftops until it retreated to the hokege's office. Naruto didn't follow.

He walked down the snow covered streets of Konoha. Everything seemed to be alright. People were crowding the small restaurants and shops, the marketplace was filled with women buying food and the children were happily chasing each other down the streets. He walked past the ninja academy, where he saw Iruka stand by the entrance. The chuunin smiled as he noticed Naruto's presence, and motioned for him to come closer. Naruto smiled an apologetic smile, then turned his head away and kept on walking, ignoring the surprised look on his Iruka-sensei's face.

A few minutes later, he finally reached the 'ICHIRAKU' ramen bar.

"Ah, hello Naruto-kun!" Ayame said happily. "Miso pork ramen, I assume?"

Naruto smiled weakly and sat down on one of the stools. "You know me all too well, Ayame-chan."

Ayame's father, Teuchi, smiled and nodded in Naruto's direction, and after Naruto reciprocated his actions he started working on creating his glorious ramen.

Suddenly, Naruto heard someone approaching. "Naruto?" A pink haired girl said as she took the seat next to him. What? Naruto asked mentally, but didn't acknowledge her. The pink haired girl didn't seem to mind, she just kept on talking after offering the famous food-ninja and his daughter a small 'hello'. "Tsunade-sama is waiting for you at the tower, what are you doing here?"

Naruto kept on ignoring her as a bowl of steaming ramen was placed in front of him. He picked up his chop sticks and poked them for a bit. "Itadakimasu!" he then said, and then he actually picked up a small amount of ramen, letting the broth drip off a bit, then he carefully brought the chop sticks to his opened mouth as he had his first, small bite.

Carefully chewing, his smile widened. "Naruto? Is something wrong?" Sakura asked nervously. Naruto understood that to her, he must have been acting extremely strange, and he would have never in a million years acted as coldly as he was doing if...

A small laugh escaped Naruto's lips as he swallowed.

He left the ramen behind, not even paying for it, then went out and simply stood there on the street outside Ichiraku's.

He observed his surroundings, smiled again then shook his head.

"Naruto?" By now Sakura sounded a bit panicked. "We have to go to hokage-sama, you know she hates it when-" But she didn't get to finish that sentence.

"Quiet."

Naruto then put his thumbs, index and middle fingers together, at the same time lacing his ring and little fingers with each other.

"Very impressive genjutsu," Naruto said.

Before the fake Sakura had the chance to stop him, he had said the word to release him from the equally fake Konoha.

"Kai!"

---

READ THIS OR DIE.

Okay, here is chapter one. Don't worry, Sasuke will appear in the next chapter.

**Kai** means release or dispel.

And sorry about the length of this chapter, this is meant to be as more of a.. prologue- type thing.

And by the way.. Reviews are always appreciated!


	2. Open your eyes

**Title**: Blind Love.  
**Author**: TheSweetestKisses.  
**Pairings**: SasuNaruSasu. More as the story progresses.  
**Rating**: NC-17 in future chapters.

_Disclaimer_: Naruto, Sasuke and their seemingly unlimited supplies of kunai and shuriken belong to Masashi Kishimoto. A certain half-assed fan fiction is an entirely different story.

**Review replies at the end of the story!**

---

_Chapter two: Open your eyes._

Then- as in the italicizes in Genjutsu.

_Sakura stumbled, and gasped, as they saw what Genma had tried to warn them about. "What is that?" Sakura whispered to Naruto. Naruto could barely hear her, as the enormous snake that had demolished the forest in front of them hissed none too kindly. It felt surreal, but at the same time Naruto was glad. He knew that he shouldn't be, seeing as Genma was somewhere out there, hurt, but he couldn't help it._

After four years, hade he finally grasped a clue? Did this mean that he could finally find Orochimaru's hideout?

"It's.. Orochimaru's." Naruto said calmly. For a few seconds the two ANBUs were completely silent, until a grin spread on Naruto's face, though Sakura couldn't see it because of the ANBU-mask. "We've got him! We've finally got him! Sakura, I won't need to break that promise after all(1)!"

Sakura stared at Naruto, then the snake, then turned her eyes back to Naruto. "Are you completely out of your mind? Forget that! Our mission is to protect the mizukage's child and wife from Akatsuki! All we've got to do is to guide them to Konoha! There is no way that we can risk our mission because of something like this!"

Naruto stared at Sakura in disbelief. "But Sasuke-"

"We cannot abandon the mission!" Sakura hissed lowly as the snake started to slowly turn its head in their direction.

Naruto was shocked. Stunned. Of all the people, he thought Sakura was one o the few that were with him on this bringing back Sasuke-deal. Sakura, who had once been so in love with Sasuke that she would do anything for him. Yet here Naruto was, and he found himself alone.

"We can't abandon Sasuke!"

Sakura actually ripped her mask off her face and glared at Naruto nervously as the snake got closer, a figure perched on its head. She knew that she could take them out, but only if her blonde captain gave her permission or ordered her to. 'Dammit,' Sakura thought. 'It killed Genma, what more do you need, Naruto?'

"Those who abandon their missions are scum!" 

"Those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum!" Naruto shot back.

"Sasuke isn't a comrade anymore!" Sakura sneered. "if this really is Orochimaru, we must take him out! Naruto, he's an S-rank criminal in the bingo-book, it's our job and duty as members of the ANBU-squad to kill missing-nins, and you cannot betray your village because of a stupid boy who decided to dedicate his life to getting revenge!"

"It's Sasuke; he's just a bit confused!" Naruto was being stubborn and childish, and he knew it. But dammit, they were talking about Sasuke-teme! Not some ordinary loser who wanted a bit of power! Sasuke was also a member of team 7, he was their friend- and Naruto couldn't believe Sakura would hold Sasuke's loneliness and confusion against her own friend.

"Naruto.." Sakura sighed. "Why can't you accept that he is probably dead?" Sakura whispered.

Naruto froze. Of course, the thought had come to him many times before. One year too late. Four years had, in fact, gone by since Shikamaru, Neji, Choji, Kiba and himself had gone on a retrieval mission, and failed.

Orochimaru changed container every third year.

But Naruto wasn't willing to give up yet. If he gave up, it would mean giving up on not only Sasuke as a comrade, but Sasuke as a fellow Konoha ninja and citizen. If he gave up on the people of Konoha, how could he ever become hokage? That was why Naruto would always try his hardest, push himself to the limits; if needed, he would even fight until he died for them- even if they only glared at him in return. Because their dreams meant as much to Naruto as his own dream did. If Sasuke was lost, Naruto would help him find his way home again.

Back to Konoha.

Back to Naruto.

"Sakura." His voice was firm, like it always was when he wanted to make it clear that he wouldn't back down. "Go back to the camp. I will take this fight somewhere else."

Sakura's heart sank. "Naruto, you know I can't let you do that."

"Sakura.." Naruto said with an amazingly bright smile that reached his eyes. It may have been hidden behind the beautifully painted mask, but Sakura could hear it in his voice as he spoke. "I'm going to get Sasuke back. Now GO- that's an order." And before Sakura could come with any more objections, Naruto had formed a thin ball of Kyuubi's chakra around the snake, its master and himself, before quickly making some hand seals and transporting away.

Sakura closer her eyes and sighed. Without Naruto, they would have to move faster; if the Akatsuki wanted to take out the mizukage's wife and child, Sakura, Kiba and two lowly chuunin probably wouldn't do.

-

Suddenly, Naruto and the others were on a enormous field. Naruto was thinking strategically; he wouldn't be able to hide anywhere, but neither would the enemy.

"So.." A cold voice said. "You finally decided to stop chatting, ne?"

Naruto kept quiet as he concentrated a small amount of chakra to his eyes, forcing them to adjust to the darkness. He decided to play along, and forced chakra to his throat, making his voice much more different from how it used to be, seeing as Orochimaru would probably recognize Naruto's own voice.

"Konoha ninja, eh?" the man laughed coldly. "They were always worthless."

Something soared through the air and towards Naruto, who side stepped gracefully. But as he glanced at the object on the ground, his blood froze.

Genma's headband, bloodied up and scratched. He turned his gaze back to the person on top of the snake.

"Orochimaru," Naruto said coldly. "I have got no business with you- just tell me where to find Uchiha and I will make your death quick and, well, painful."

The man laughed. Naruto couldn't see what he was doing, but suddenly the snake disappeared with a low hiss and the man was in a crouched position approximately 50 feet from where Naruto himself was standing. Naruto still couldn't see his face- but that didn't matter. He was sure that he knew who it was.

"Uchiha? I heard there was an Uchiha with the Akatsuki. Maybe you should try there." came the amused voice of the man. It was deep and cold- a voice that Naruto recognized. "But first.. I need some information about Konoha."

"You know which one I'm talking about," Naruto growled, ignoring what the man said about Konoha. He started to build up strategies in his mind. He should first of all try to force Orochimaru to use up all of his chakra, something that Naruto didn't have to worry about since Ero-sennin(2) taught him how to use the fox demon's chakra. Then he would have to somehow corner him- after that, he would just have to improvise.

Naruto wasn't stupid. He knew that Orochimaru was one of the legendary three sannin of Konoha, which meant that he was up for a real fight, which he didn't know the outcome of, and the poorly thought out plan didn't really help him any.

"You mean.. Sasuke," the man said oddly.

Suddenly, the man was rapidly performing hand seals. Quick! Seal of the serpent, ram, monkey, boar, horse- before the last seal had been made, Naruto knew what Jutsu the man was trying to perform. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" the man shouted and suddenly, enormous flames were flying towards Naruto.

Thanks to his quick reflexes, Naruto was able to jump above the flames- but then he was falling. He did the first thing that came to his mind. "Kage bunshin no Jutsu!" Two clones appeared, grabbing his arms and throwing him to the side before disappearing in a puff of smoke as they touched the fire.

Naruto turned, observing the man. 'He is too fast; he's faster than geji-mayu(3).' Even his trained eyes weren't able to completely follow the man's movements, and although Naruto wouldn't go as far as to call himself slow, he knew he definitely couldn't achieve the same speed as this man.

Smoke was everywhere. Suddenly, the man disappeared from Naruto's field of vision. Naruto crouched down. The smaller he got, the less of a chance would it be that Naruto's vital organs were pierced by a kunai.

Suddenly, the air was heavy. Naruto found it harder and harder to breathe. He stood up, hoping that stretching his lungs would force more oxygen down his throat, but it didn't. He then ripped his mask off his face, but that didn't help him very much either. 'Dammit, he must have preformed a water jutsu' Naruto thought.

Quiet. Everything was too quiet. Suddenly, he dodged, jumped, sidestepped. He grabbed a passing kunai and started to deflect kunai and shuriken.

He was everywhere, or so it seemed. Weapons came from all directions. Jutsus flew at Naruto, who was having a hard time even dodging them. 

"Who.." Naruto deflected a shuriken. "Are.." chakra needles flew at him, and Naruto had to jump out of their way. "You?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten my face already, Orochimaru." Naruto knew that the man was beginning to run out of chakra. 'Soon, I'll-"

Suddenly, Naruto couldn't speak. He couldn't think, he couldn't even move.

There, in front of him, stood Sasuke. Breathing heavily, with moist skin. A kunai was pressed against Narutos throat. Sasuke seemed to glare at him with closed eyes. Naruto decided that it was the fog that messed up his senses

"I asked you a question," **he** said. Was it really Sasuke? No. It was Orochimaru in Sasuke's body.

"Sasuke.." Naruto choked on his words.

Sasuke's breath hitched. What..?

Then Naruto remembered.

He had lt his guard down and released the chakra he had been concentrating on his throat.

And before the fight had a chance to really begin, it was over. Naruto found himself staring at Sasuke's hands. 'Too fast!' Naruto's mind thought in a fraction of a second. Sasuke let go of the kunai, then started performing hand seals at an outrageous speed, forcing Naruto into a world created by genjutsu before his kunai even hit the ground.

Before Naruto knew what had happened, he was waking up in his own, fake apartment, having no memory of what had been going on just seconds earlier.

--

Now- as in where we left off in Genjutsu.

"_Kai!_"

Naruto stood still as he heard Sakura shriek angrily. Konoha suddenly got very blurry, then dissolved. Now he wasn't in Konoha, or even the field. He was in the woods again.

"Impressive," Sasu… No, _Orochimaru_ said. "How did you find out? I thought I erased your memory perfectly."

Naruto smirked coldly as he turned around to face him. His smile faltered as he saw Sasuke's body, leaning against a tree, keeping his eyes closed.

Naruto brought his hand down to the shuriken-holster tied to his right thigh. Why did he have his eyes closed? Did he have a death wish or something?

"Well," Naruto said. He jumped up into a tree, and at the same time threw three shuriken at Sasuke. But he was gone in an instant, making Naruto's shuriken hit the tree he had been leaning against. Naruto continued. "A perfect genjutsu is supposed to attack all five senses. So, first of all, touch." He carefully scanned his surroundings. "When I ruffled my hair just after I woke up, I found that something was missing. I suppose _you_ wouldn't know that I _always_ wear my green nightcap while sleeping." Naruto continued talking, hoping that it would draw Orochimaru closer to him.

He turned around quickly as he felt someone's presence- there! He threw his shuriken. It was easily dodged, but the shuriken that was in the shadow of the first one slashed his throat open. "Second of all.."

Sasuke's bleeding body disappeared in a puff of smoke, and a slashed log fell to the ground from the branch it had been standing at. Replacement technique. Damn.

"Second of all, hearing. I have never, _ever_, heard the laughter of a child sound so fake."

"Chikushou(4)!" Sasuke cursed. "I hate kids!" There. The sound came from a bush on the ground. Naruto threw another shuriken, but what turned out to be only a shadow replication only smirked and dissolved.

"Third, smell." Naruto quickly formed hand seals. "Sakura-chan wasn't wearing the perfume she usually wears. I gave it to her as a birthday gift." Naruto smiled and preformed the last seal, the seal of the serpent, and closed his eyes. Suddenly needles of chakra shot out of his chakra openings, piercing everything that they touched. _He couldn't have survived that_, Naruto thought. But he was soon proven wrong.

"Go ahead, _Naruto-kun_."

_Dammit! How did he survive that? The only place where there aren't many chakra openings is... Above!_ As Naruto once again preformed hand seals, he continued explaining. "Fourth, taste. You didn't really think that you could fool me with your shitty genjutsu-ramen, did you, old geezer?"

He then faced the sky and smiled coldly as he drew in a breath and gathered chakra in his chest. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" All of the brances above him were turned into ashes.

"Tsk tsk, you don't think that you could actually beat me with my own clan's special jutsu, did you?"

Naruto's heart stopped.

_He's lying! He isn't Sasuke!_

"Stop pretending to be Sasuke!" Naruto yelled. It made his blood boil- to think that Orochimaru had.. or was it really Orochimaru?

Naruto had made a mistake that a ninja should never make; he had showed him his weakness. Naruto had, like all other Konoha ninja, undergone months of training to hide his emotions. Emotions are one's greatest weakness on the battlefield. That was common knowledge. But dammit! No one had ever prepared him for something like this!

"Why would I pretend?" Behind. Suddenly, Naruto could see his opponent's movements more clearly than he had only seconds before. Moving much faster than he had only moments ago, Naruto whipped around, and Sasuke had barely been able to dodge the kunai that was embedded in the tree branch next to his head. Naruto could smell blood, but he knew that the wound he had inflicted wasn't fatal.

Naruto was angry. His eyes were tinted red. His pupils were dark slits. His nails had grown longer, the whisker marks on his cheeks had grown thicker. He still hadn't lost control over Kyuubi- but he was sure he soon would. "Stop acting like a coward!" he growled at the woods. "You're only keeping a distance because you're scared, aren't you? _Orochimaru_?"

By saying that name, Naruto hoped it would be more true. If it really was Sasuke, then..

Suddenly, Naruto couldn't move. It wasn't because he was paralyzed. It wasn't because he was hurt. Naruto concluded that really, nothing was wrong with his body.

It was the chakra strings that had wound up around him that were the problem.

"You won't get out of there." Sasuke, or Orochimaru- Naruto didn't know what to believe anymore- moved sluggishly, jumping from a tree branch high above Naruto to one right in front of him. "So there is no need to even try. Besides, I won't hurt you."

Naruto stared at him. His face.. It held a painful resemblance to the old Sasuke, even though he had visibly matured during the four years that had passed. His eyes were still closed. Naruto wondered if he had been fighting all this time with his eyes closed, and if he had- how?

"I should start with telling you that since, as you have probably already guessed, I'm starting to run a bit low on chakra."

_How can he dodge, attack, fight if his eyes are closed?_

"Second of all, it wasn't really information of any importance to the village that I wished to obtain." Naruto bit his lip as the low voice continued speaking. Naruto found it hard to concentrate.

_That means that he's either moving based on intuition, hearing or.. chakra! That's it! He uses them combined! He sees my chakra.. But if there are more Narutos, then.._

"I suggest you open your eyes, Orochimaru." But he didn't listen. _Something sharp. I need something sharp.. yes, perfect! _

"Third. I would appreciate it if you'd stop calling me Orochimaru."

Naruto frowned, but continued concentrating on angling his Kyuubi claw right.

"Fourth. I'm going to leave you here."

Naruto closed his eyes, biting into his lip so hard that it started bleeding. Sasuke..

Yes! Naruto's Kyuubi- strengthened claws finally cut through the end of one string. Of course Sasuke noticed, but before he had a chance to disappear Naruto made a hand seal and focused on concentrating the right amount of chakra. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he screamed in his mind.

Four shadow replications appeared in front of Sasuke, who didn't move, didn't look surprised, and he didn't even open his eyes. But it was a part of Naruto's plan.

"You don't know which one is the real one, do you?" one of Naruto's shadow replications said, as the real Naruto went to stand among them.

"I'm telling you, open your eyes!" another said.

"Or are you afraid to see me?" the real Naruto spat.

Sasuke sighed. Then he _disappeared_.

The different Narutos immediately got into fighting stances, forming a circle so all angles were under surveillance. When did Sasuke achieve such great speed?

Suddenly, it came to an end. A neck broke, a kunai pierced a skull, a shuriken took out a lung, and a kick broke two ribs. Left was the real Naruto, eyes wide as all visible traces of the Kyuubi faded away.

"Don't be stupid. I can feel based on chakra which one is the real one." 

Then it came to Naruto's mind.

He quickly retrieved a kunai from the holster tied to his thigh and threw it at Sasuke, who was forced to dodge. But it had served its purpose as distraction. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" In the time span of five seconds, Naruto's chakra was masked, and Sasuke was surrounded by a large amount plain replications.

"How about now?" Naruto said.

Naruto knew that Sasuke was having a hard time. Without chakra, which ordinary replications didn't have, movement would be much harder. Chakra was easy to track, but Sasuke wouldn't be able to win over Naruto based on hearing or feeling their presences, because it was too vague.

"Open your eyes, Sasuke," one of the replications said calmly. Sasuke didn't.

"Dammit Sasuke! Don't go easy on me- I know you've been doing it all of this time! I've proven to you that I'm not weak- now open your god damn eyes!"

Mere seconds later, the replications picked up the shuriken and kunai that Naruto had thrown earlier. Since chakra fades, and replications are unable to leave chakra traces, Sasuke wasn't able to dodge them as well as he had before. He was pinned to a large tree by his shoulders and clothes. It probably hurt, but the only visible sign of distress that showed on Sasuke's face was his tilted eyebrows and his tightly pressed together lips.

Naruto was fuming. He walked up to Sasuke as the replications disappeared and pressed his hand against Sasuke's throat.

"Look me in the eyes, _Sasuke_," Naruto said, clenching his fingers around the assumed to be Sasuke's throat. Sasuke choked and slowly opened his eyes.

"You thought it would be easy, didn't you, Sasuke? Well now you know that I am a worthy opponent, a worthy teammate and a god damn worthy friend. _Now look me in the eyes, Sasuke_!" Naruto yelled more forcefully. He raised his other hand, grabbed Sasuke's chin and forced him to face Naruto fully.

Unprepared for what he would see, Naruto gasped and his grip loosened as he involuntarily stumbled back. Those eyes...

"Sasuke.. you.. y-you're blind."

---

(I know, this chapter was pretty boring / I hope I didn't disappoint you all too much. I've only had time to write in-between classes and such, but I really tried to make it seem.. well.. not rushed. And I'm sorry if there were any confusion regarding the time skips. If you found anything odd or such, please don't hesitate to email me or drop a review:P Anyway!)

(1) The 'promise of a lifetime' that Naruto made to Sakura about bringing Sasuke back to Konoha.  
(2) Ero-sennin, as most of you already know, is pervy-sennin Jiraiya.  
(3) Geji-mayu is fuzzy-eyebrows, otherwise known as Rock Lee.  
(4) Chikushou means 'damn' or 'dammit', or so I've been told.

AND IF YOU WERE CONFUSED BY THE WHOLE OROCHIMARU/SASUKE DEAL:  
Orochimaru wanted to transfer his soul to Sasukes body or whatever, you guys remember? He did it to another person right before he got his hand on Sasuke, and it would take three years before he would be able to use that Jutsu again. So, Naruto isn't sure if Sasuke's body contains Sasuke's own soul, or Orochimaru's. But towards the end he started using Sasuke's own name! le gasp.


	3. Strike a deal

Today really wasn't Tsunade-hime's day.

It had started off as any other day; she got up at 6 am, drank just a _small_ amount of sake, showered, gone to work, signed a paper or two, decided that, really, _two_ hours without sake could make things horribly uninteresting, and of _course_ she would have to remedy that by helping herself to half a bottle or so, before she continued to sign her papers- a few hours later, she went to the hospital to check up on the regulars. After that it was time for a snack in the lunchroom at the hospital, where she would declare to herself that she _was_ really rather fond of the tasty rice-wine, and that sake was in fact her friend.

If she was to follow her routine, she would then patrol the streets for a bit, just o show the people what a good hokage she was, and after that she would go back to the tower to play hide-and-seek with the unwilling participant Shizune.

But today wasn't any other day.

Just as she walked past the village gates, Sakura, Kiba, two unconscious chuunin and the mizukage's shocked wife and crying baby boy stumbled in.

Tsunade demanded an explanation.

By the time Tsunade had checked up on the mizukage's wife and child (both of whom were unharmed, only shocked), actually _dealt_ with the visiting mizukage himself (Who of course demanded for _someone_ to get punished), gotten her explanation from Sakura (which she didn' like one bit), assigned four ANBU-teams to only finding the members of the Akatsuki that had been hurt (which they failed to do, of course), she wanted to declare her undying love to, and of course have close contact with, a large bottle of sake and wring the neck off a certain irresponsible blond ninja.

Shizune was ordered to bring her the sake (-**now**_ dammit before she decided to sculpture her own face in the hokage-mountain with her fists_) and all the available ninjas were told to bring Naruto to her office as soon as he was found. So when a scared genin knocked on her door, saying that Naruto had arrived (_without_ bringing Naruto, mind you.) she couldn't stop herself from sending him a _very_ nasty glare, which promised him a world of grilling later.

_"Naruto is here, in the tower actually,"_ he had told her. _"Though when we tried to bring him to you.. Complications arose."_

Tsunade stormed out. Who the hell did that boy think he was? Yes, Tsunade had forgiven him before and let him off the hook easily, but … Tsunade stopped when she reached the entrance hall.

Naruto, with six jounin clinging to his waist, legs and left arm was shouting obscenities to said jounins, at the same time stretching out his right arm toward the equally distressed, restrained and fighting ghost of a boy who had once been the pride and joy of Konoha.

Everyone make mistakes.

At least, all human beings make mistakes.

Iruka-sensei made mistakes. Tsunade-baachan made mistakes. Kakashi-sensei made mistakes. Ero-sennin made mistakes. Sakura-chan, Hinata-san and Ino-san made mistakes, as well as Shikamaru, Kiba and Neji-san.

Even Sasuke-teme made mistakes.

But the word 'mistake' had an entirely different meaning to Naruto than it had to ordinary people.

From the day he was born, he had been called a mistake. Every day he lived just _had_ to be some sort of mistake. Everything he did was a mistake. A disappointment. A failure.

So really, it wasn't strange that he fell harder than other people do when making a mistake.

Mistakes and turning points in life merged together somehow;

He had made a mistake, his first major mistake, when he thought he had gotten a friend his first month in the Ninja Academy. He had let his guard down. He should have known better. He shouldn't have been surprised when he was two weeks later beaten up again by said friend. It shouldn't have hurt as much as it did.

Naruto learned not to trust people. He became paranoid, he started to hate the villagers for hating him. He tried harder, developed a bubbly personality, unconsciously seeking attention, but receiving much from the unwanted kind.

He made a mistake, his _second_ major mistake, in believing that adults weren't as childish as children. That you could put your faith in adults in times of hardship. Really, he should have known that all humans are the same. When Mizuki gave him the scroll of forbidden seals, he should have known that it was too good to be true. Mizuki had always bee somewhat distant when it came down to dealing with Naruto. Just like the villagers. Why on earth would he suddenly decide to help Naruto?

Naruto learned that even the kindest people have their demons. Ironically, Mizuki was the person who told Naruto about a _real_ demon.

Naruto made a mistake, his third and absolutely biggest mistake, when he let his best friend, his _first_ real friend, go. _"You didn't let him go,"_ Sakura-chan would always say. _"You _lost_ him."_ But Naruto couldn't see any logic in that. Had Naruto only been a good friend, Sasuke wouldn't have left. Naruto had been naïve; to think that his friendship alone would make Sasuke happy enough to forget about the revenge he was so set on getting. Like he was some sort of _God_, like it was his fucking _duty_ to punish those who punishment deserved. No, he wasn't a God. He was fucking _Satan_- with the hell he had put Naruto through, how could he have ever seen him as someone _pure_?

But Naruto deserved it. In the end, it had been Naruto's fault. It always was.

Naruto learned, the hard way, that alive wasn't always better than dead.

Sasuke was a combination of his first and second mistake. Naruto couldn't believe how _stupid_ he was.

But he always got something out of it, didn't he?

After he lost his first friend, he put up a cheerful attitude. People around him appreciated it, even though they didn't show it. In times of hardship he made them laugh, even though they scolded him for everything he did. Naruto may not have known it, but he did. And most important of all, Naruto made _himself_ happy.

And of course, after the incident with Mizuki he had gotten a _father_. He again learned to trust, to _love_, because Iruka-sensei had _risked his life_ for Naruto, when the monster inside of him had killed Iruka's parents.

And Sasuke… Naruto thought about Sasuke every day. Even as he became a chuunin, then a jounin, then he even became a member of the ANBU and got his own team. Sasuke was always there. Naruto didn't miss him, because.. Well, Sasuke never really _left_, did he? He was always in Naruto's mind, haunting Naruto's thoughts and taking part of what should have been Naruto's decisions. And Naruto was scared, because he found that it didn't bother him at all.

No, Sasuke.. he never left, yet now he was back again.

Naruto learned his lesson.

Eventually, everything would always turn out.. okay. It would be alright.

No matter how bad things seemed, they always worked out. In the end.

"Tsunade-baachan!" Naruto whined and knocked on her office door. When she (_still!_) wouldn't answer he sighed and bit his lip. Oh well.

He opened the door and stepped into her office anyway.

"Tsunade-baachan, you're here!" he exclaimed when he saw her sitting at her desk, rubbing her temples. "Why didn't you answer me?" In truth, he knew exactly why she wouldn't want to open the door and let Naruto in.

Since the day they he had returned to Konoha, Sasuke had been locked up somewhere, Naruto didn't even know _where_ since they wouldn't tell him, and Naruto had been forced to 'take a break' from his life as a Ninja after he had, as Tsunade-baasan had put it; _"so irresponsibly left your own team, while on a _mission_ nonetheless, and because of your stupid actions the Akatsuki almost got a hold of the two you were supposed to protect, almost giving the mizukage a heart attack by doing so."_

But of course, Tsunade-hime had a soft spot for Naruto, and Naruto had learned to use his position in the old hokage's heart to the fullest.

"I know what you're about to ask me," Tsunade-baasan growled. "And the answer will be a combination between 'no' and 'go die'."

Naruto pouted, and for a second, Tsunade saw a short twelve-year-old in an orange jumpsuit standing in front of her. But no, there he was, still short, still very bright, but much more mature. "Come on, Tsunade-baas- uh, Tsunade-sama!" A death glare from Tsunade made Naruto nervous. "You've been holding Sasuke captive for a month; he's probably dying out of boredom!"

Tsunade sighed and started rubbing her temples again. "For the millionth time, it doesn't _matter_ whether he is _bored_ or not. We must keep him under surveillance for the time being, because he is a threat to Konoha!"

"But we already _know_ he isn't Orochimaru, so it all works out!" Tsunade had in a matter of seconds after just seeing Sasuke decided that it wasn't Orochimaru, though now no one knew what had happened to him since Sasuke was still, well.. Sasuke.

"You're forgetting that it was _Sasuke_ who betrayed the village four years ago, not Orochimaru," Tsunade pointed out.

"But he was just confused or whatever! Come on Tsunade-baa…_nee_-san," he corrected himself just in time, "What can he do anyway? He can't even see!" Naruto couldn't believe how easily those words slipped out of his mouth. He still couldn't quite believe them, but he could now at least talk about it.

"Don't play that card on me Naruto, it won't work. He proved that even though he's got a.. _minor handicap_ he's an above-average Ninja when he managed to tangle out from the pile of jounins and putting them into a temporary coma. I was _there_ you dobe."

"What are you so afraid of?" Naruto frowned. "That he'll destroy Konoha or something? I can assure you, that he wouldn't be able to do that."

Tsunade stopped to think for a few seconds. Well, Sasuke was restrained because of the fact that, yes, he could take down a few unsuspecting Konoha ninja if he wished, but to be honest, it wasn't likely that he would even try. No, Tsunade's major concern was that he would leave again. Not only would it be a major loss of good recourses, even though the kid was, in fact, blind, but..

She really didn't think she would be able to put up with the look of utter sadness that had adorned the blonde's face the _first_ time he actually realized that Uchiha Sasuke had left.

A second time would surely break him.

"Yes.. and no," Tsunade finally answered. "We don't want Sasuke to leave the village until we are sure that he won't return to harm us."

Naruto frowned. "Well, you could always scare him into staying." Such an evil grin. A very, very evil grin, Tsunade thought. "That was what I had planned on doing."

"I'm afraid that won't work," Tsunade said with a sigh. "He left everything behind the last time he left, so we can only assume that there is nothing left here in Konoha for him to care about. Now get out and let me go back to work."

Naruto had of course already tuned her out, biting his lips as a look of utter concentration crossed his face. Tsunade glared at Naruto. What, _she_ hadn't been able to concentrate on her work for the past month because of him, did he really think that she would leave him alone _now_? "Naruto, _get out_ of my office or I'll-"

"Quiet, baa-san! I'm thinking!"

Tsunade felt like a rain cloud had parked right above her head and was happily trying to drown her in a sea of shuriken.

"Listen here you brat-"

"I know!" Naruto exclaimed happily, making Tsunade's personal rain cloud pee kunai as well. "Sakura and the others bumped into some Akatsuki members on their way back to Konoha, right?"

The imaginary rain cloud dissolved in a puff of imaginary smoke as she actually became a bit curious as to where this was leading.

"Well, I wouldn't say they _bumped into_ them, but yes."

Naruto grinned that stupid grin of his that made Tsunade want to raise her fist and howl like a fucking savage, because that grin always meant that he was about to say something really, really stupid.

"Didn't Kiba bring back a _souvenir_?"

Tsunade frowned. What the..?

Oh.

_Oh_!

Of _course_! Kiba had managed to bring Itachi's headband!

Tsunade made sure her emotions didn't show on her face. "What were you planning to do with it?"

"Well.." Oh snap. Yes, what the fuck _had_ Naruto planned to do with it? He had no idea himself. "I thought that, uh.. Sasuke seems like the kind of guy who'd want to keep the things his older brother left behind..?" he tried. He failed.

"Naruto, I am sure that you are aware of the fact that Itachi murdered Sasuke's entire clan and, according to the testimony from when he was eight, he let him witness the murder or his parents about 200 times by using Mangekyo Sharingan." Well shit. No wonder Tsunade-baasan had become hokage. She knew all of these things by heart.

"No, I didn't mean it that way! I uh.. You know, we could use the headband to track it back to Itachi!"

_Where the hell had that come from?_ Tsunade thought.

_Where the hell did that come from?_ Naruto thought.

That was just _beyond_ Naruto's level of thinking when he wasn't on a mission.

"That.. is actually a good idea."

Naruto beamed.

"There is only one problem."

Naruto frowned.

"This could be a good start on how to bring down the Akatsuki. But. We would need a specially trained Ninja to do that. A kind of ninja that _we don't have_, nor do any other village."

Naruto cried.

Okay no he didn't. But he felt like doing it.

"Tsunade, you idiot!" And Tsunade was back to getting peed on with Kunai and Shuriken. "Sasuke would be able to do that himself!"

Tsunade stared at Naruto. "Brat, that isn't even funny."

"No, I'm serious." And Naruto actually looked serious. "You should have seen the way he was able to fight in the woods when I went after him. It was.. amazing."

Tsunade put her elbows on the desk and laced her fingers together. "How amazing?"

"He managed to dodge every single attack when I was in my normal form, and you should take into consideration that he in blind, and therefore unable to use the Sharingan. Tsunade-baasan, he has actually managed to heighten his other senses, if not developed a new sense, and with a bit of training he could probably do a lot better." Naruto sounded eager to explain.

Tsunade thought about it. 

After the war with the hidden village of Sound, Konoha had lost some of their best ninjas. It hurt to say it, but it was a fact that Konoha had been weak, and it was still just recovering. That was the only reason why _young_ ANBU, such as Naruto, Sakura and Kiba existed.

If Sasuke was properly trained, he would probably contribute to the restoration of the village Tsunade's grandfather, boyfriend, brother and now Naruto had tried so _hard_ to protect.

"Baasan..?"

Tsunade stood up and went to the door. "Baasan, what are you doing..?"

"Naruto, how many times have I told you not to call me that?" She opened the door before Naruto got a chance to say anything and had a hushed conversation with one of the jounin guards standing outside. Naruto rolled his eyes. _Sure, you make _one_ mistake and you get shut out. Shitty hokage. Shitty _old_hokage._

Tsunade closed the door and went back to her desk.

Then they waited.

And they waited.

And- oh, was that a bird outside the window?

A subtle knock was heard on the door. "Enter," Tsunade said. Naruto watched from his position by the door as first Kakashi-sensei entered, then Gai(1), and _oh my god_ there was Sasuke. Naruto didn't even notice Shikamaru and Neji come in after Sasuke.

Because Sasuke didn't seem to be feeling too well.

"Sit down." Tsunade's hard eyes followed Sasuke's every movement as Shikamaru released his Shadow Bind Technique and Kakashi guided Sasuke to a chair in front of Tsunade-hime's desk and gently pushed him down, remaining in his position behind Sasuke.

"Naruto, you too."

Sasuke looked like he was surprised for a moment, but then the damn bastard blanked his face and closed his eyes again. Well, if he hadn't noticed Naruto's presence when he entered the room, he must be very bad off, Naruto thought as he sat down in the chair next to Sasuke's. 

"You may leave," Tsunade said, watching the four ninja who had escorted Sasuke. None of them moved. "Now."

Silence. Neji was the first one to speak. "Hokage-sama, I must object. At least let one of us remain-"

"Don't question my orders!" Neji fell silent. "Look at the boy, does he look like he could even raise his arms properly?"

Neji didn't answer. After another moment of uncomfortable silence, Kakashi squeezed his former student's shoulders, turned around and left. After him went a hesitant Gai, then Shikamaru, who was really half asleep anyway, and lastly Neji.

"I have a proposal to make." Well, Tsunade-baasan was.. straightforward..?

Sasuke gave a small nod.

"I want you to return to your position as a Konoha Ninja. I want you to train hard with the teachers that will be assigned to you, and I want you to go on missions, just like a normal ninja would do." Tsunade paused for a moment, but Sasuke made no move to object. "And.. I want you to help us track down the Akatsuki organisation."

Naruto bit his lip, anxiously waiting for Sasuke's reply. What would happen if he refused? 

Naruto wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"There are a few problems." Sasuke's voice was deep and low, as if he was talking about something he'd rather not talk about. "First of all, I'm only a genin. Second, If you hadn't already noticed, I am blind. Third of all, I have no idea where they are. The fourth and most important question is, why would I even want to help you in the first place?"

Tsunade snorted. "Uchiha, don't be stupid. You may have only obtained the rank 'genin', but you are at the level of an ANBU; and that is _without_ your ability to see." Tsunade and Sasuke could have been carved out of stone. Sasuke's face was soft and emotionless with his eyes closed, Tsunade's face was hard and masking. Add the fact that they were talking about Sasuke's.. _problem_, which Naruto wasn't really comfortable talking about, and you get one squirmy Naruto.. Why was he even _there_? "And don't worry, I already know that you don't know where they are.. which brings us to your last 'problem'. We've got Itachi's headband."

Sasuke's eyes sprang open, showing those cold eyes. His eyes widened and he frowned, as if he really wished he could see Tsunade's face.

There was nothing wrong with Sasuke's eyes, at least not if you were a normal person looking at him. But to a trained eye they were _special_, to say the least.

"Well, how does that help us find them?" Sasuke said slowly.

Tsunade leaned forward and smirked. "So that means you accept?"

Sasuke blinked. "What?"

"You said 'us'. How does that help _us_. So I take it you're on the team."

Sasuke closed his eyes and nodded.

"I have a basic plan thought out, but until you have managed to prove that you really are on _our_ side, I'm afraid I'm going to have to refrain from telling you.

"Naruto has told me a bit about how your fighting skills have improved. In fact, he told me that you have managed to heighten your senses to the point where you were able to fight without depending on your eyesight. That makes you a perfect soldier and a perfect ninja- you can't be ambushed, can't be hit by a weapon coming from your blind spot and your hearing, smell and ability to detect chakra and distinguish a human being from an inanimate object makes it impossible for someone to get past you. I think we can safely assume that the Akatsuki organisation contains some of the most skilled ninja of all time. All we need is someone better than them, and then the tracking down will go smoothly."

"But Naruto won." Naruto could only stare at his former rival as he uttered the words that he had once fought so hard to hear him say. "Naruto won over me. What makes you think that the Akatsuki, or any other ninja for that matter, wouldn't? I am _blind_- no matter how much I heighten my other senses, or practice different types of jutsu, I will remain blind which means that I have lost the most important sense used during fights. If I lose my concentration for just one _second_, the entire mission will fail and my team mates and I will end up dead."

Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Sasuke, that's why you're going to train under different people. We're going to make you a better ninja than them."

Sasuke remained silent. Naruto glanced at him, then Tsunade.

"Um, baasan..?" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "If you don't mind me asking, what am I doing here?"

Tsunade had a '_Oh, are YOU still here?_' look on her face. _Senile old hag._

"Well. Since you are off duty, you and Sasuke will live together from now on. Where, you choose you may decide for yourselves. You will also train Sasuke along with Hatake Kakashi, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, Haruno Sakura and assistants chosen by them."

"Live together with.. Sasuke?"

Tsunade nodded. Naruto thought about it.

"Well, we won't fit in my apartment, that's for sure." Naruto frowned as he tried to think of someplace to live.

"Excuse me?" Sasuke interrupted Naruto's pondering, sounding _very_ angry. "Who said I'd agree to _that_? And why aren't _you_-" Sasuke nodded in Naruto's direction, "-putting up more of a fight, you traitor!"

Tsunade snickered evilly. "Well, we can't let you live alone, can we? We must keep you under surveillance, and who'd do the job better than the best friend you left behind? You _do_ understand that he won't give you an opportunity to run away?" Naruto felt like he was a pet or something.

Sasuke started playing with a strand of hair absent mindedly. "But if I'm going to be _trained_ to be 'a perfect ninja' as you're saying, wouldn't I technically be able to win, and escape?"

Tsunade sighed. "I didn't think you would actually want to escape but oh well. If you do, you won't have Itachi's headband, and you won't be able to track down Itachi. And if you leave, I'm afraid that Naruto's life will be put in danger."

Sasuke's hand fell back to his lap. "What?"

Tsunade stared at Sasuke intently, and even though he couldn't see her he seemed to feel her gaze. "I'm saying, that if you were to _leave_, Naruto will have to pay."

_Bang_. Sasuke stood in front of Tsunade's desk with his head bowed down, face hidden behind the inky bangs, fists half way through the thick wood.

"That… isn't fair." His voice was calm, unnaturally calm. Naruto felt as if he was standing in the dead centre of a storm and shuddered. That desk was made to withstand a small proportion of Tsunade's strength. "He shouldn't have to take the hit for something _you_ want to screw up."

"For your information, brat, _you_ are the one holding Naruto's _life_ in your hands. Now for God's sake sit _down_ before you faint, you stupid child." Tsunade hissed at Sasuke and stood up.

"Naruto, do you trust Sasuke, _with your life_?"

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"Then it is settled. Training," Tsunade raised her hands to silence the upcoming objections from Naruto, "will begin three days from now. Uzumaki Naruto, you will escort Uchiha Sasuke to the Uchiha estate, since you two don't seem to have a solution to that problem. Hatake Kakashi will bring over food to fill the refrigerator for about a week, I'll send him over later. Umino Iruka will be responsible for bringing over essentials from Naruto's apartment. Naruto, you will _not_ let Sasuke out of your sight. And Sasuke.. She stared at Sasuke as he slowly pulled his fists out of the table. "If you even angle a _kunai_ suspiciously, I will personally see to it that both you and Naruto receive _proper_ punishment."

He just stood there, tall, strong and silent, completely emotionless and expressionless even as blood dripped from his scratched, still clenched, fists. A perfect soldier.

Uchiha Sasuke. A perfect Ninja.

Tsunade shook her head.

"Dismissed."

Naruto hurried outside, pulling Sasuke after him like some kind of ragdoll.

And as Tsunade-hime sat there by her desk, getting reacquainted with a large bottle of Sake, she could have fucking _sworn_ she had gone back four years in time as Sasuke's and Naruto's voices seeped in through the window behind her.

"Well, you _were_ brought back by the greatest Ninja of all time." Naruto sounded like he was _serious._

"You couldn't fucking ninjutsu your way out of a paper bag." Sasuke snorted.

"Hey!" Tsunade could practically _hear_ the pout. "Says the _blind_ guy!" he yelled. Now it sounded like Sasuke was pouting.

"Isn't that a bit insensitive?"

"No."

"Yes, yes it is."

"Hmm. . . No, I don't think so," Naruto said happily.

"It _is_!" Sasuke sounded a tad bit frustrated.

"'Kay then, I take it back."

"Usuratonkachi!"

"Teme…!"

"Dobe."

"… _teme_…!"

"Is that the _only_ insult you know? It's not even a real _insult_."

"It's not my fault that you're a teme, teme!"

Tsunade ignored the burning sensation in her throat as she gulped down the rest of the contents.

"Come on, Sasuke!"

"No."

"Sasukeeee!"

"No."

"Please, Sasuke!"

"No."

"Please, for me?"

"Hell no."

Naruto made a frustrated sound and stomped his foot. They had been standing by the gates to the small block of Uchiha houses, and Sasuke just wouldn't walk through them. "Come _on_, Sasuke-teme.. it's just a bunch of houses. Let's at least walk past the gates!"

"I'm fine here, thank you very much," Sasuke-teme said, then, being the bastard he _is_, he sat down on the bare ground to demonstrate exactly how fine he was out here.

"You're not fine, teme.. Come on, we've got to clean up your wounds." But Sasuke said nothing. Dammit, he was just.. _sitting_ there.

"Fine," Naruto huffed and grabbed Sasuke's arm, yanking him up. Sasuke winced, but Naruto didn't notice. "We're going to the.. uh.. market. Yeah. To buy.. a thing.." He carefully led Sasuke past the gates, onto the Uchiha estates. It was probably mean to use Sasuke's blindness against him in a situation like this, but he really needed to clean up the bastard's wounds. It was for his own good!

"Naruto, I told you I didn't want to be here," Sasuke said quietly as they came to a halt in front of the Uchiha Main family's house.

"What! How did you know?" Naruto yelled happily.

Sasuke made a serious expression. "I can smell the Uchiha blood that was shed."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Really?"

"No you idiot! I can feel the Uchiha symbol on the wall I'm using to walk right!"

"Oh," Naruto said as he watched Sasuke. What was he _doing_..? "Hey..!" he yelled once he understood. "Stop backing away! You won't be able to outrun me in the state you're in anyway!"

"God dammit- Naruto, I don't want to go in there!" Sasuke said weakly as Naruto latched onto his arm again.

"Ah, Sasuke-teme, it won't be that bad," Naruto said half-heartedly as he kept a firm grip on Sasuke's arm and pulled him through the little garden to the back door.

It was remarkable, really, that the Uchiha houses hadn't been rebuilt so that other people could move in. It was like the people of Konoha hadn't been ready to give up on the golden Uchiha clan, that had for so long been one of the most powerful clans in the Fire country. As if they had all hoped for Itachi's long lost child to appear out of nowhere, or for Sasuke to suddenly change his mind and return.

It was fascinating, yet oddly disgusting, how some people held more trust for the Uchiha clan members, than they had for their own children, their own flesh and blood. Sure, they had once been the best ninjas and founders of the Konoha police-force, but they had, on numerous occasions, betrayed the village for personal gain. But everyone still kept hoping, clinging on to the hope, as well as protection, that they wished for the Sharingan to provide.

And what would happen now that the Sharingan was lost? It was ironic; the village had gotten everything back, only to find that it was nothing after all. Naruto wondered with bitter amusement what the villagers would think when they would come to realize that it wasn't Sasuke, or even his last name, that they had loved and cherished. It was something in his _blood_. Something in his _eyes_. Something he couldn't even change.

And most importantly, it was something that had been taken away.

If Sasuke had noticed how quiet Naruto had suddenly become, he wasn't complaining too much. Naruto opened the back door. He smiled. No key. It hadn't even been locked. And the house hadn't been vandalized.

"Naruto..?"

How could they hold so much respect for someone that had _betrayed_ them? He had been able to leave his front door open for _four years_, as if they had expected one of the brothers to return any moment, and give them back the whole Uchiha block as if they had never done anything wrong. They hadn't done _anything_. It was Naruto who had fought for years to bring Sasuke back, it was Naruto who had _never, ever_ lost faith in him. It was Naruto who wanted _Sasuke_ back, and not the Sharingan. Were they really that desperate for hope after the minor war four years ago?

"Naruto.." Sasuke's voice sounded distant, making Naruto snap out of his thoughts. "Naruto, what-"

"Right! Let me see the damage!" Naruto said, masking his thoughts behind a smile.

"What?"

"Show me where you're hurt!"

"Naruto, we're standing in the middle of the hall, if I remember things correctly."

"Oh! Right.." Naruto toed off his sandals and started walking towards one of the closest doors. Just as he reached for the handle, Sasuke cleared his throat.

"What?" Naruto asked, giving Sasuke a quick glance before opening the door. It was a bedroom, much larger than his own had been. Very little furniture were in there, but it did look rather expensive anyway. "Sasuke this room'll be fine, just tell me where to find a.. Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked even paler than he did before as he leaned against the wall. He cleared his throat. "Naruto, I'm afraid I'm not healthy enough to.. navigate, in here."

Naruto stared at him.

"Found it!" Naruto yelled happily as he entered the room he had told Sasuke to wait in, carrying an old first-aid kit in his arms.

Sasuke was lying down on the bed. It looked like he had fallen asleep as he lay there, completely still, eyes closed, his chest gently rising and falling. He had a fever. His lips were parted as he breathed heavier than usual, and his cheeks looked flushed with heat. Naruto walked up to the bed, wondering if he was really asleep. He bent down too look at Sasuke's face…

"This used to be Itachi's room, you know." Sasuke's low voice startled Naruto, making him jump back and yelp. Sasuke didn't seem to notice. "He always kept it clean and impersonal."

Naruto put the first-aid kit down next to Sasuke on the bed and straddled his lower abdomen. "I remember exactly how it looked," Sasuke continued. Naruto put his fingers at the hem of Sasuke's dirty, black t-shirt and dragged them upwards. Sasuke shivered as Naruto's cool fingers made contact with his too warm body.

"He never liked it when people came in to his room. Not even mother or father. But I always came in here anyway." Sasuke lifted his body a bit to allow Naruto to pull the shirt off. "I looked up to him."

Naruto nodded, even though Sasuke couldn't see it. He opened the first-aid kit and poured some antiseptic and poured it onto a small cloth. "It feels wrong, in a way, to be in here without his permission," Sasuke said with a small, bitter smirk. Naruto heard a low hiss as the cloth made contact with one of the mostly healed wounds on Sasuke's shoulders. Wounds Naruto had caused. He shouldn't have thrown those Kunai. It had been unnecessary. But he would make it up to Sasuke, someday.

"It's my house. It's my room. Still it feels wrong," Sasuke spoke in a low voice as Naruto continued to clean his wounds. Silence settled as Naruto continued to clean up some of the scratches that littered Sasuke's pale chest. It was obvious that they hadn't really taken care of him wherever they had kept him for the past month. Tsunade could have healed his wounds in seconds.

"Sit up," Naruto said quietly as he got off Sasuke to allow him to sit up. Sasuke sat up slowly, putting his feet flat on the bed and leaning his arms on his knees, putting his chin on top of his crossed arms.

_He is beautiful,_ Naruto thought as he slid in between the wall and Sasuke's back, putting his legs on either side of Sasuke. His skin was so _pale_ with almost no scars at all, his inky hair so soft and beautiful, even as it was damp and limp, and not spiked as usual.

He looked like an angel. The wounds on his back, from where the Kunais had pierced his shoulders, were red, and although they no longer went right through his body, they were deep. It looked like there had been a pair of wings there, which he had been forcefully ripped off. A blind, sick angel that had been robbed off his wings. It hurt Naruto to think that he hadn't been able to protect one of his precious persons. But Sasuke was his best friend, and he would try his best to take some of the pain away from him. He would try harder.

Naruto took the bandages and started to bandage the Kunai-wounds. It was probably infected, which would explain Sasuke's fever. Maybe he should give him some pills to bring the fever down? No, that wasn't smart, that would allow the infection to spread.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

"Yes?" Naruto replied, concentrating on the junction between Sasuke's shoulder and neck.

"What about sight?"

Naruto paused what he was doing and turned a bit to the side to get a better look at Sasuke's face. "What?"

"The Genjutsu," Sasuke said, lifting his chin from his arms, replacing it with his forehead. "You never told me about the fifth sense, sight."

"Oh." Naruto bit his lip and returned to bandaging Sasuke's shoulder. "Well.. I noticed some of the details of the town was blurred. I don't know if this counts, but I guess that the thing that gave it away was the fact that no one was looking at me oddly. Their eyes, they were all… Kind." Naruto finished wrapping up Sasuke's left shoulder and went to work on the right.

Sasuke snorted. "Right," He said in an irritated tone of voice. "I never really did get why they always insisted on treating you like shit."

Natuto's breath hitched. He quickly snapped his mouth shut, hoping that Sasuke hadn't heard. But if he had heard, he didn't let it show.

"Finished," Naruto said softly and moved to get out of the bed.

"Good," Sasuke said and leaned back against Naruto's chest before Naruto had a chance to get away.

Naruto stared at the mass of black strands who were making themselves comfortable on his shoulder along with their owner.

"Naruto?" Sasuke said again. Naruto made a surprised sound as he kept on staring at him, wide eyed. _It's the fever,_ he told himself. _He wouldn't do this if it wasn't for the fever._

"They told me you had searched for me.. Why did you search for me?"

Naruto's eyes softened and he leaned back against the wall behind him, putting his arms around Sasuke.

For a long time, neither Naruto nor Sasuke said anything, and when Naruto did finally answer, Sasuke was either asleep, or at least pretending to be.

"Because I care for you."

(1)I know his name isn't Maito Gai, which everyone seem to think it is; It's Might Guy. But, People always write "Gai-sensei" so I guess I'll do it too, because Gai sounds cooler than Guy, and I'm not really in the mood to bitch with people about it.

PLEASE REVIEW!


	4. Thy unrelenting past

**Title**: Blind Love.  
**Author**: Philosophia.  
**Pairings**: SasuNaruSasu. More as the story progresses.  
**Rating**: NC-17 in future chapters.  
**Beta**: This chapter was beta'd by Luthien Wildglen and Ruby Lips! Thans to both of you!

_Disclaimer_: Not mine. Don't sue. Live on garbage as it is. D:

**_Please read this!_**  
I am really sorry for taking so long to update! This chapter was **really** hard to write, and I'm not really happy with it, but I've done my best.  
_This means that reviews would be highly appreciated_; Harsh ones will probablt break my heart, but I need it. I need so much constructive criticism as I can get. Thank you!

**Review replies.. **Um, here's the deal. I am completely confused as to why it says that I have replied to, like, 0 reviews. Has anyone gotten their reply?

---

_Chapter four: Thy unrelenting past._

_It's__cold_, Sasuke thought.

_Why is everything so _cold

The fever-struck boy didn't notice that he was sweating, and pulled the covers tighter around him.

_Wait…_

Covers?

He fingered the smooth covers… Smooth like silk against his burning, cold skin.

He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt so _heavy.._

He turned around; burying his nose in the pillow he had under his head, and inhaled.

That scent…

_Itachi?_

"Nii-san?" Sasuke coughed as raspy words were forced to form on his vocal cords. Why was he in his nii-san's room? He'd better get out before nii-san came home, or he'd be angry with Sasuke. He never said anything, but Sasuke could always see it in his brother's accusing eyes. Sasuke tried to sit up, but his weak body just fell back again.

Why was he in Itachi's room anyway? Maybe mother had put him there.

Mother...

_Mother..._

_…Eight year old Uchiha Sasuke stared at the motionless bodies of the Uchiha branch family members. They weren't dead, he told himself. They were just hurt. Unconscious._

Sasuke froze up as memories seemingly blocked his throat, preventing his lungs from drawing in oxygen. He clawed at his throat, but it didn't help. It just continued.

_…"Brother! Father and mother are..!" Sasuke stared at his parents' bloody bodies, then he turned his eyes to his nii-san as tears clouded his vision. "Why! Why?! Who the hell… this…!?"_

_"If you want to kill me… Curse me! Hate me!"_

Sasuke gasped for breath. He forced his stiff body into a sitting position and grabbed his chest as tears welled up in his closed eyes. Brother had… Why had he…?

_The scene changed, and…_

_Sasuke stood behind a grey-haired boy with cold eyes._

_"This is how we do it," Kabuto turned around, sporting a smirk as he pushed his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose. "We are elite ninjas, such nonsense as villages shouldn't matter to a shinobi."_

_Sasuke turned his eyes to the crying woman in front of them. They said she was a traitor. But no, she hadn't betrayed her village. She had tried to sell out Orochimaru._

_A flash of a Kunai, and the week Sound-nin's eyes rolled back as she fell down._

_"Remember, Sasuke-sama, that it was your village, the villagers, that made you weak."_

Sasuke forced his eyes open but was only rewarded with more darkness. Why couldn't he see? His eyes, what was wrong with his fucking eyes?!

_The snake-like face of a man was all Sasuke could see. The man's smirk was cunning and evil-_

_"You've been here for two years, Sasuke-kun," the man cooed into his ear and forced the Kunai deeper into Sasuke's shoulder. "This is the most valuable lesson you will ever learn."_

_Sasuke grit his teeth and glared at the man._

_"There will always be pain, Sasuke-kun. Accept it. Become one with it. You need to understand it, Sasuke," Orochimaru said and twisted the Kunai, ignoring Sasuke's scream._

Sasuke was hyperventilating. He forced his body out of bed as memories rushed to his brain- but he couldn't see his own fucking hand in front of him. He clawed at his eyes and emitted an agonized cry- they were still there, but why weren't they working?

_Memories of a bright young girl with red clothes, of a lazy masked man with white hair – of his best friend with sunshine smiles- they all faded behind the memories of Sasuke's brother, fuelling his hatred._

_"I'm doing the right thing," the dark haired boy said from his position on the bed, holding his knees close to his chest, rocking back and forth gently as he tried to convince himself that the life he lived was the life he wanted to live. "I'm doing a good thing, the right thing. They understand. I have to get strong, so I can kill him. So I can finally gain peace…"_

_Sasuke stopped rocking and banged his head on his knees in frustration._

_"Right for _whom_?"_

Sasuke blindly stumbled forward. In his emotional state his senses were a jumble- was someone behind him? In front of him?

Sasuke suddenly collided with something hard. A wall. He bit the inside of his cheek as he tried to calm down his ragged breathing. If he fainted now the enemy would be able to take him down. Trembling hands were dragged roughly along the wall, searching for the door that would take him out of this fucking hell.

_Sasuke worked hard. He fought with little to no sleep, ran on practically sheer will-power alone and obeyed Orochimaru's orders like a lapdog._

_It felt good. Being under pressure constantly- being observed, analyzed, criticised. It left no time to remember._

_"You know, Sasuke-kun,." The snake sannin had sat Sasuke down to have a conversation with him one day. "There are some things I think I need to clarify, and I intend on telling you nothing but the truth."_

_Sasuke had sent Orochimaru a dark glare, telling him to hurry up so he could continue training him._

_"I hope you know that I intend on using you as nothing other than my container."_

_Sasuke kept quiet._

_"I will use it to destroy the leaf village."_

_Sasuke turned his eyes to the ground._

_"And there is no way for you to escape your fate now." Orochimaru observed the boy carefully._

_For a few seconds, all that really could be heard was the deafening silence._

_"So?" Sasuke then said coldly. "I don't care what happens to me, as long as I get my revenge."_

_Sasuke stood up and left._

His hands suddenly touched air.

Sasuke quickly stumbled out of the room. What now? His eyes were open wide, as if he was hoping for his vision to return to normal any second now. He swayed as the consequences of not calming down caught up with him- Blank. For a second, at least it seemed that long to Sasuke, neither light nor darkness reached Sasuke.

_"NO!" Sasuke roared angrily.._

_There had been a fire, blood, regret, betrayal and memories. Sasuke stood in the middle of it all, the smell of burnt flesh stung his nose as the corpses he had left behind incinerated. Kabuto had escaped, but Sasuke had bigger things to worry about, Sasuke realized as Orochimaru appeared in between him and the door out._

_"No!" Sasuke yelled again as the smirk on his sensei's face widened._

_"I won't let you escape," Orochimaru had said simply with a calm tone of voice, as if standing in a burning house didn't faze him at all._

"…don't really think he's fit for training yet, he's got a really high fever," Naruto told Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei as they stood in Sasuke's living room. The jounin and chuunin had come by just a few hours after Naruto himself and Sasuke had left Tsunade's office, just as Tsunade had said they would; Kakashi with food and Iruka with Naruto's personal belongings.

"I would have thought that Tsunade had personally healed him." Iruka admitted with a soft air of surprise. "It was made obvious that the guards were hired to keep Sasuke from _escaping_, not to keep him _healthy and alive_."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "I wasn't allowed to see him until today, but I don't think that's the way he's supposed to look. He must be very sick.. We should take him to the hospital."

Naruto shook his head at the proposal. "I don't think that'll be necessary, I've already cleaned up and bandaged his wounds and they don't seem to be that-"

An agonized cry and a loud thud cut off Naruto mid-sentence. His eyes widened and he reacted immediately, rushing into the hallway with Iruka and Kakashi behind him.

_Sasuke was bleeding. He was bruised and battered, and if he lost more blood he probably wouldn't make it._

_But Sasuke would win. He would sure as fucking hell win. He wouldn't let the disgusting Sannin use his body to destroy his home village._

_"What about revenge?" Orochimaru whispered into his ear as he drove the kunai further into Sasuke's side. "You have gotten strong, Sasuke. Stronger than I thought you would. But you need to get stronger."_

_"I don't care!" Sasuke whispered with the promise of murder in his voice. "I want to get out of here; I want to live a normal life!"_

_Orochimaru chuckled. "Stop fighting it, Sasuke-kun."_

_It was all Sasuke had ever wanted, really. A normal life. He just hadn't realized until now that he could live a normal life, with his friends, without having to avenge his murdered family._

_Yes, Sasuke wanted to live a normal life._

_And he was ready to fight for it._

_With some odd mix of desperation, rage and determination, he grabbed Orochimaru's hand which held the kunai currently lodged in between Sasuke's lower ribs._

_"Chidori Nagashi (1)!"_

_Sasuke's body was suddenly covered in electricity. He stared Orochimaru in the eyes as he forced the electricity to Orochimaru's body, and concentrated it on his heart._

Naruto swore as he saw Sasuke's limp body on the floor outside the room he had left him in. He walked up to him, aware of the fact that both his former senseis were following him close behind. Sasuke's face was paler than usual, his hair damp and his face covered by a light sheen. A weird frown was on his face- and for a moment, Naruto thought Sasuke was in pain.

Naruto reached down a hand to shake Sasuke awake- but was surprised when Kakashi's fingers were suddenly curled around Naruto's wrist, stopping him from touching Sasuke.

"Don't," Kakashi said simply, watching Sasuke with his uncovered eye.

Naruto stared at Kakashi oddly. "Wha..?" he said in a confused tone.

"He's dreaming." Iruka's voice was again soft as he watched Sasuke from a small distance. "And by the looks of it, it isn't a nice dream."

Naruto stared from Iruka, to Kakashi, to Sasuke.

They were right. Behind Sasuke's closed eyelids, his eyes were moving rapidly from side to side, indicating that he was dreaming, and it probably wasn't a peaceful dream. The rhythm of his breathing was irregular, Telling Naruto that it must be a nightmare.

Naruto crouched down to examine Sasuke's face better, and Kakashi let go of Naruto's arm.

"It's probably because of the fever, but we shouldn't move him until we are sure that he won't harm us in his sleep. Many accidents have occurred while waking up ninjas from nightmares, and him not being able to see us will only make it worse." Kakashi's low voice was bored, and Naruto couldn't stop himself from scowling. He, a member of the ANBU, should have known that better than anyone else.

Naruto then sighed and nodded. "And because of the fever his senses are probably messed up," he whispered as he turned his face back to Sasuke's. "I wonder what Sasuke's dreaming-"

"NO!"

Naruto gave a startled yelp as a fist flew out of nowhere. He automatically forced his body back, bending his spine painfully- as he registered what had happened he was already balancing on his hands and feet in a bridge.

"Shit-" Kakashi dodged a fist as Iruka rushed to help Naruto up.

Sasuke was standing up, pressed against the wall as if to keep someone from attacking from behind. Some of the wounds on his unclothed torso had started to bleed again from the strain. He was panting heavily, hands pressed into deadly fists at his sides and his eyes were wide open..

Unfortunately, it was obvious that Sasuke's mind was somewhere completely else.

_He should have known._

_Of course Sasuke should have known better than to underestimate Orochimaru. That Orochimaru wouldn't be taken down that easily. Even though the Chidori Nagashi was Sasuke's strongest jutsu, Orochimaru was a Sannin that had defeated two kages (2); he was Sasuke's teacher for god's sake, and held a clear advantage over him._

_Sasuke stared with some sort of sick fascination as Orochimaru's shaking hands formed seals in a completely foreign pattern._

_Suddenly, a huge monster of some sort was behind Orochimaru._

_And then it all clicked._

_Sasuke's eyes widened painfully as he backed away from Orochimaru on instinct- too bad the fire prevented him from moving where he wanted, and it was easy for the Sannin to follow._

_Kabuto had told him about this technique- it was the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, which the third hokage had used to destroy Orochimaru's arms. The same technique that the fourth hokage had used against Kyuubi..._

_That technique would be used against Sasuke._

_His blood red eyes scanned the room for a way to get through the flames safely, but the only way to get out would be to get past Orochimaru; and that wasn't really an option, seeing as the huge monster was right behind him._

_A surprised noise almost made its way past Sasuke's lips. His eyes were starting to burn painfully, and Orochimaru stood much closer to Sasuke than he had just seconds ago, with the large death god standing right behind him._

_It hurt. Oh yes it fucking hurt- it was as if his eyes were in the middle of the slowly spreading flames- and it was unbearable. Sasuke emitted a pained noise as he blinked- squinted- but nothing worked._

_A form of panic that Sasuke had never felt before settled like a small knot in Sasuke's stomach._

_"I'll let you live," Orochimaru hissed as blood dribbled down his chin. He took a hold of Sasuke's shoulders, bringing his face closer to Sasuke's. "I'll let you live, but I'm going to make sure you wish you were dead."_

_Blood splattered over Sasuke's cheek as Orochimaru coughed, but he couldn't bring himself to care about that as his vision faded into black around the edges. He wanted to push Orochimaru the fuck AWAY from himself- but he just stood frozen to the spot, as if Orochimaru's weak arms had nailed him to the wall._

_"I'm going to make sure the only desirable thing about you is ruined, Sasuke-kun. I'm going to make sure no one will ever want you again."_

_Sasuke really panicked as he opened his eyes wide- but it didn't help the burning pain in his eyes, and it didn't help his vision from fading._

_"You'll be completely useless… To your village, to your friends, to your dead clan members… To the entire world. Oh yes, Sasuke-kun… I'm going to make sure you wish you were dead."_

_The words were like a bullet to Sasuke's heart as he understood what was going on._

_By then, he could barely see anything at all. "NO!" He yelled and pushed Orochimaru away from himself harshly, as if hoping that he would push away his words as well. As if hoping he would push away Orochimaru's last curse…_

_..hoping that it would stop Orochimaru from taking what Sasuke treasured, cherished and valued most in the entire world with him into the grave._

_The last thing Sasuke ever saw was Orochimaru's triumphant smirk as he fell backwards._

The three shinobi stared at the blind boy as he suddenly bent over, pressing his fists into his eyes.

"Fuck!" he yelled.

"What the hell was that about?" Naruto whispered to Iruka.

"He's confused. It's the fever, his mind can't comprehend that he's woken up from the nightmare," Iruka answered. "It's either that, or he's playing confused to have an excuse to attack us."

Why are teachers always too goddamn smart for their own good?

"That can't be it!" Naruto said furiously.

"I don't really care what he's doing," Kakashi said slowly. "We need to get him restrained anyway."

"But Sasuke's-"

The boy in question seemed to respond to his name. He preformed hand seals with a speed Naruto had only seen once before, and that was also by Sasuke.

'_Chidori!_'

The sound of a thousand birds flapping their wings grew in the room, as Sasuke summoned chakra into his hand. A marble-sized ball of blue chakra formed in Sasuke's right palm, then grew. Iruka reached for his shuriken-holster. Kakashi bolted at Sasuke.

But of course the dark-haired boy moved faster, seeing as no one was really prepared for a sick boy to move as fast as Sasuke obviously could.

Naruto breathed heavily as he was pushed against the wall. He thought he saw Sasuke mouth Orochimaru's name, but didn't have time to think about it as Sasuke's hand came down on him.

Adrenaline surged through his body. Kyuubi's chakra was starting to…

_Stop him. Don't hurt him._

And helpless as Naruto really was, he did the first thing that came to his mind.

He tapped Sasuke three times on the left shoulder.

The ANBU-signal, telling him to wake up.

It was a freak accident really.

Sasuke assumed that the most powerful source of chakra was Orochimaru- so he surged at it.

It was Orochimaru.

It had to be.

It sounded a bit like Naruto, but- how?

He had been with Orochimaru moments ago…

…Orochimaru had taken away his eyesight, and he wasn't dead- he was there, alive, and Sasuke would fucking kill him, oh yes he would, because if he did, Sasuke would get back what Orochimaru had taken…

_Right?_

Right.

And just as he pushed back a body that was slightly too short, a bit too warm and much too hesitant in hurting Sasuke; just as he pushed forward the Chidori, he felt it.

Three light taps on his shoulder, leaving traces of a familiar sort of chakra.

A chakra he remembered being _red_.

And Sasuke _woke up_.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes. Somewhere in the background, Iruka clung onto Kakashi's arm as they waited for someone to make the next move.

But all Naruto saw was a mass of blue-black hair.

He slowly let go of Sasuke's bandaged shoulder, which he had grabbed so hard Naruto was sure it would bruise in a few hours.

And finally his mind caught up.

Relief flooded his mind and he slid down the wall, dimly noticing that Sasuke's fist had just barely missed him, piercing the wall next to his head instead.

It was all silent for a few seconds, until Sasuke pulled his fist out of the plaster wall, stumbled back a step before falling to his knees in front of Naruto.

Kakashu walked up to Sasuke and put his hands on Sasuke's shoulders(3). Sasuke jerked violently, wishing that whoever it was would understand and let go of him, which Kakashi of course didn't do.

"Can't let you escape," Kakashi said slowly, softly.

_"I won't let you escape," Orochimaru said calmly._

Sasuke's leg spun out of nowhere, but Kakashi jumped out of the way, then put his index fingers right behind Sasuke's ears, pressing lightly in warning on his pressure points.

"Don't fucking push it."

"Where is Orochimaru?" Sasuke's low voice was laced with fury.

Naruto, still not moving from his spot by the wall, answered.

"Sasuke.. it was a dream. A memory. You're back in Konoha now."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"B- he was right here!"

"It's the fever," Kakashi mumbled.

"But- he took my e-" Sasuke's jaw snapped shut and his expression hardened.

_Sixteen years old_, Kakashi thought to himself. Ninja grew up too fast.

Sasuke's fist once again slammed into the wall right next to Naruto's ear, making Naruto's head snap up and his eyes open.

He was met by two onyx eyes, that were so cold and yet so angry and even more passionate and why, _whywhywhywhy_ would anyone ever want to destroy something so beautiful?

"I need them," Sasuke forced out through gritted teeth. "I need…"

Sasuke's other fist joined his first on the other side of Naruto's head.

Sasuke closed his eyes and bowed his head.

"For God's sake, I'm an _Uchiha_!"

---

Okay, um.

First of all: Glossary! Yay! The first one is a manga spoiler, but it's nothing, really.

(1) _"This is a version of the Chidori, in which Uchiha Sasuke gathers a great amount of chakra throughout his body instead of just his hand. He is then able to force it out producing a Chidori-like effect which surrounds his whole body. This technique was first implemented to stave off Naruto, Sai, and Yamato's combined counterattack. Anyone who comes in contact with this technique gets shocked as well as temporarily paralyzed."_

(2) Orochimaru killed Yondaime Kazekage and Sandaime Hokage.

(3) Easy access to pressure points behind the ear. Um, I don't know how to explain this; right where the jawbone and the "scullbone".

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

I am.. REALLY sorry about the delay. But believe me when I say, I had some really big problems with this chapter. It was EXTREMELY hard to write. Sasuke became OOC all the time, which was annoying. Ha. I've rewritten it probably over 20 times, and I'm still not that happy with it. Meh.


	5. The day when

**Author's note**: Guess I owe you guys an explanation, huh?.

The truth really is ugly, and I'm not sure whether or not I should say it. Those who want to know, comment, and I swear I'll answer. I just don't think I should put it up here. Just know that I really do have a reason, and I'm truly sorry.

Updates from now on will be more frequently; three or two times a week. I've got the story planned and I've got a few chapters, so it shouldn't be a problem..

This chapter is dedicated to all of the people who still are interested, you guys rock my world. And of course, to the beautiful and missed Tsiedo-hime.

_This is the day._

There was an odd, unnerving serenity hanging over the Uchiha compound as Naruto strode over the cold floor, moving silently with the grace that only a master could practice.

_This is the day._

Not yet fully recovered and rendered imperfect by punishments he didn't really deserve, Naruto wasn't sure if it was right to kick him out into practice, and even worse – the judgement of the villagers.

_This is the day hope and trust will be rebuilt._

"Sazzke" came his blurred voice to the young ninja lying in the bed. He cracked an eye open and was met with nothing but darkness once again. "Sazzge gedapp jougadda goto praktiz."

_What the hell is that idiot talking about_, the feverish thought entered his head. He could practically see the boy, still twelve years old in his mind but so much older in his heart, glowering at him.

"..practice! .. make you by force…"

As Sasuke's senses sharpened once again and the feverish fog was pushed away, he remembered.

_Today is the day. I'll be murdered by angry ninjas._

"Why are you doing this, dobe? You're supposed to be at work."

Sasuke hadn't quite warmed up to the blonde. Bitter and degraded, he was once again a prisoner of the town he'd tried so hard to avoid.

"None of your business, bastard," came the smooth, cold reply.

Naruto hadn't quite forgiven the brunette. Relieved, but careful, he would not let his emotions run free again. He had to learn to distance himself, because really, when it really came down to it, if it came to a time when hard decisions had to be made, how would Naruto be able to stop him?

"Hn."

The now few exchanges of words were awkward and cold, the blanket of anger painfully obvious over the two as they sat by the kitchen table to eat their breakfast. Both of them were quiet most of the time, and had been for the past two days, as if walking on thin ice, trying their way forward.

Naruto watched Sasuke eat, tentatively outlining the shapes of the objects on the small table with his hands, pouring himself a glass of milk and nibbling at an onigiri, careful now that he wasn't fully alert because of the fever.

Sasuke even sat perfectly. He was a man of posture and balance, straight back, head held high. Naruto absently read his body language, not really getting anything out of it, you know, with them just eating breakfast and all, so he let his mind wander.

Naruto thought that it was clear that he was in some way familiar with the house. Sasuke moved around as if it was like.. Before. As if he hadn't ever left, and as if he could still see. Even though he was still sick, he no longer needed to use his hands as support to get where he wanted – though he mostly stayed in his own old room.

Itachi's room was some sort of Pandora's Box to his friend. Sasuke hadn't entered the room, or even gone anywhere near it, since the day Naruto had patched up his wounds. Naruto didn't know whether it was out of fear, respect or hatred, and he wondered if it had been that way since the massacre that took place eight years prior.

Naruto's eyes quickly focused on Sasuke's face again as he opened his eyes, which was pretty rare.

Sasuke's gaze was blank in a way Naruto wasn't used to. Sure, he had never really showed any emotion before either, but this was just plain weird. To be honest, Naruto preferred them to be shut, because it was unnerving to him – when he had his eyes open, which was a rarity, he never knew whether to look him in the eyes or not. Yeah, he couldn't see, so it probably wouldn't really matter where he stared for all Sasuke cared, but it felt degrading in some way that his friend didn't deserve, even though he wouldn't show him that he was worth it.

Yeah, Sasuke was worth to be looked in the eyes. People should know what a hard world had done to a child.

"Stop staring, idiot," hissed Sasuke.

It was then that Naruto noticed that he had stopped eating.

"It's rude, and even though I can't see it, I can feel it."

Naruto blushed and frowned. "T'chah, like I would stare at you anyway."

"Hn," the Uchiha said again and finished his meal.

"Naruto! Stop waving your hand in front of my face!"

"Heh, just making sure," the blonde said with a half grin and started cleaning off the table.

The brunette snorted mentally and closed his eyes.

Had Naruto watched him closely in right –that- millisecond, he might have been able to catch a weak smile on his friend's face.

_Really.._

There was light rapping on the door, and Naruto was fast as lightening as he opened the door.

"Yosh, let's go!" he said to the jounin escort who stood waiting.

Sasuke didn't know whether to be offended or relieved as the blonde fled from the evil silence. Familiar chakra was at the entrance, but he didn't welcome it one bit.

They exited the building in silence. "Let's go," Sasuke said, and Naruto nodded out of pure habit.

"Aah," Said Kakashi, slightly saddened by the fact that his former student wouldn't acknowledge him.

Kakashi threw looks at the two as they made their way to the training grounds where they would meet up with the others.

It was obvious they were both trying hard to distance themselves from another, which in a way, he thought as they made their way to the training grounds, was a good thing.

Not for them, as individuals. But for them, as shinobi.

_And Sasuke.._

He was surprisingly good at finding his way over the rooftops. Kakashi wasn't really that surprised, since a good ninja would be able to do it practically sleeping and half dead (1), but it still had to be assuring to know that you can, whenever you want, depend on your eyesight.

Sasuke didn't have that assurance.

He watched out of the corner of his visible eye how Naruto kept close to Sasuke.

_Tsunade was right_, he chuckled in a wicked way to himself as he thought of the day when he, a half-curious Nara Shikamaru, and a very reluctant Hyuuga Neji (who assured them that, really, he was only doing it for the safety of the hokage!) had eavesdropped on their conversation. Who would be a better guard than the best friend left behind?

"Here," Naruto said, and they all came to a halt as they reached the training grounds. It was still early in the morning some would say, yet the area was filled with life. Kakashi-sensei, Neji, Rock Lee and Sakura were there, along with Iruka, Hinata, Shikamaru and Ino, their chosen assistants. Oh, and let us not forget all of the ANBU littering the forest at the orders of yours truly, Tsunade-hime.

Naruto was sure Sasuke sensed them, as he saw the small crease between the two thin, black eyebrows, but he made no move to reassure him in any way.

They all stood almost lined up in a weird manner. No one said anything, instead staring at Sasuke, who held his head high as he felt accusing and sad eyes on him.

It was his former sensei that broke the silence.

"Hatake Kakashi here. I will be the first to train you, along with Iruka," came Kakashi's voice from somewhere to his left.

"You still know me, I trust", said Iruka softly standing at Kakashi's side.

"Hyuuga Neji," came the exceptionally cold voice of Neji directly from the front. "I will be your teacher in learning the true ways of chakra. My assistant will be Hyuuga Hinata." His voice made it clear that if it wasn't for the orders of the Hokage, he wouldn't be there.

"P-pleased to meet you, Uchiha-san," Hinata said awkwardly from behind her cousin, probably not knowing what to really say.

Sasuke vaguely allowed himself to wonder why he'd be taught by a family whose entire skill was in the ability of their eyes.

"I will be taking over after Hatake-san is done."

Well, Sasuke didn't like the sound of that. His closed eyes formed into a glare and though he didn't see it, Naruto clenched his fist and allowed himself to give Neji a look of warning.

"Yosh!", came a determined voice and Sasuke mentally groaned and smirked at the same time. "Rock Lee reporting here, on the mission of the honoured Godaime Hokage. I will be here to teach you the great ways of the mind, I will help you explore the amazing maze of-"

"That's enough, Lee," came a bored voice, from the.. ground?

"Jeez.. Always has to exaggerate. Why'd I get picked by the most troublesome one?" Shikamaru sounded truly troubled as he lay there, on the ground, gazing at the clouds above. "Wait, why did I get picked at all?" came an afterthought, and Naruto sniggered.

He rewarded them with a small nod as it came as a pleasant surprise that they were at least neutral towards Sasuke, which would most likely make his unwanted visit here less painful and annoying. He wondered though, why Rock Lee hadn't chosen his former sensei as an assistant instead. He's probably busy with other missions, he shook it off.

"Haruno Sakura.-"

"-and Ino Yamanaka", came two voices from his right.

"I, along with Ino, will teach you how to find your real strength and how to use it, how to read the moves of others and how to influence their minds."

"We'll take over after Lee and Shikamaru," Ino said as Sakura cracked her knuckles.

Sasuke gave a snort of laughter.

"And last, and the opposite from least, me." Said Naruto with a half smirk on his face. "You'll just have to wait and see what I've got in store for you!"

"Hn," Sasuke said. "As if. You probably just havn't thought of something yet," he dared Naruto to reply.

Naruto kept silent, and Sasuke frowned.

"Well then, we should get started!" Kakashi said with faked enthusiasm. The other ninja disappeared, Naruto stayed in a nearby tree though.

Sasuke heard the ringing of two small bells, along with the rustling pages of a book.

_Again!?_

Well.. I don't know where to start. I'll just fill in the glossary.

(1) Heightened senses. You'll notice as things get close.


	6. of Silence

**Author's note: **Hey guys! I want to thank you all so much for not giving up on me. Here's chapter six, I hope you all enjoy it. As soon as I've posted this, I'll start replying to the reviews.

And by the way.. Don't worry, the story will become much "happier" soon.

(_You've got no idea how many times I wanted to press in the word "emo" into this chapter.)_

edit Wow, hurotias pointed out a huge mistake I made. It's fixed now though!

- - - - - - - -

_Chapter six: Of Silence._

Sasuke's eyes were wide open and a look of utter concentration adorned his face, as he crouched down on the ground of the open field.

_Silence._

A breeze sent ripples through the tall grass as Sasuke strained his ears as hard as he could to see if he could hear the small jingle of the bells.

It was made out of a purely strategical move. It would be the smartest for Kakashi to try to take him to an open field, seeing as Sasuke didn't need to depend on his eyesight to find the older Ninja, but Kakashi probably did. So, hiding in the trees would probably be more of a hindrance for his former sensei than it would for Sasuke.

_There!_

Sasuke heard a distant jingle, and with that tore off towards the sound as fast as he could, taking into consideration that he had to be quiet enough for Kakashi to dismiss the rustling of the grass as the wind blowing through it, mask his chakra properly, and to constantly feel the grass against his face – to be sure that he remained perfectly hidden.

The whipping of the tall straws was almost painful as he put so much energy in enhancing his senses. The good thing about being as concentrated as Sasuke was that he never really mourned the loss of his eyes; it was unfortunate, but it had happened. He wouldn't let _one _sense be a hindrance in his struggle to avenge his clan.

He knew Kakashi was only teasing him. Standing in the middle of the field, Sasuke heard the rustling of the pages as he stopped a few metres radius of him, taking the time to feel the pulse of energy that was Kakashi's chakra.

But what Kakashi probably didn't know, even if he had heard of it, was the speed that Sasuke had acquired in the sound village. Some of the villagers (there were no civilians, only ninja, since it wasn't a real town) had taught him some tricks. He could manipulate the sound waves that travelled through the air. After that he had developed his own technique. He manipulated the waves in the air, much like the sound-technique; but instead he reduced the resistance in the air.

The problem was that the technique required him to send a bolt of chakra so fast in front of him that the "resistance" weakened.

And that would definitely give away his position.

Too late, he noticed his mistake, and groaned.

"You shouldn't stand still so long in the same place", said Kakashi in a bored tone as he switched pages and vanished.

Sasuke cursed, and quickly followed the chakra trail that Kakashi's jutsu had left behind. Surprisingly, they led him to the dense forest by the field.

The density of the forest would be an advantage to him, since it was a disadvantage to Kakashi.

_What the hell__ is he thinking?_

It was obvious that he simply was one step behind Hatake Kakashi.

And it bothered him.

_- - -_

Naruto watched from the trees as Sasuke stood still one second too much, and Kakashi vanished.

_Kuso!_

It was weird to see how Kakashi deflected Sasuke's attacks, although he could also see that Kakashi really _was _impressed by Sasuke's growth.

Naruto stared as Sasuke turned more and more frustrated. Had it been Naruto, he'd probably had lost all of his focus to frustration instead, but the two of them kept their fight at an elite level.

He watched as Sasuke got more and more exhausted because of his fever, and how he started to lose his concentration. He had stopped using chakra; he had used too much already.

Naruto wondered was Sasuke was doing. He was fighting to get in just one hit on Kakashi – and when he finally got it, Naruto's eyes narrowed, and he watched as the cut-off corner of a page was slowly pulled down by gravity.

It was the chakra scalpels that Kabuto had used on him when he, Tsunade and Jiraiya had fought against Kabuto and Orochimaru.

_He must have learnt it from him…_

He smirked as he turned his eyes away from the paper, to the bell that was now flying through the air along with the cut-off string.

"Very well," said Kakashi with his usual mask of light happiness. You did very well. Though I have to admit, that if I hadn't been so careless in the end, you would've never gotten it.

Sasuke frowned, wishing he could point out that he wasn't exactly in his top form right now, but his pride didn't allow him.

"But", said Kakashi as if he had read his mind. "I realize that you have a handicap or two as well."

"Get to the point. When will training begin?"

"Ah, ah! I'm happy to see you so enthusiastic, Sasuke-kun!" Kakashi waved off the hostile tone in his former student's voice. "I believe, no, I know that you had a hard time getting the bell since you've gotten all the wrong training in Sound." It sounded like some form of mockery. '_you'd have been better off staying here.'_

"See, Sasuke. You've gotten trained to _kill,_ that's why you were so limited in this fight. I have no doubt that had you come on like you were going to kill me, I'd have a much harder time trying to keep the bell."

Sasuke said nothing. Naruto secretly glowered.

"That's why you'll go back to the ninja academy!" Said Kakashi.

Naruto gaped and his eyes widened.

Sasuke paled, but otherwise didn't show any sign that he was god damn _mortified._

"Eeeh?!" said Naruto loudly, as a dark "Excuse me?" came from Sasuke..

"Now, now, Sasuke. Don't take it the wrong way. The problem is that just that, you have just focused on the rough stuff for so long, that you've now forgotten the basics."

Sasuke could see how that was true, but _god damn it.._ had his brother been here… Shame spread like poison through Sasuke's veins. His brother had graduated as a chuunin at the age of 13. Here he was, sixteen years old, still at the rank of genin, and he was forced to go through the academy again.

"Iruka sensei", Kakashi said as Iruka reappeared by his side, casting him a glance. "will teach you. He will choose his own method."

Silence.

"Alright then!" Kakashi said happily. "I'll leave this for you to decide! I hear there's a new Icha Icha-novel out!" he said and formed seals with his hands.

"Oh and Sasuke…" he turned completely serious for a moment.

"You'd be better off _not _underestimating your enemies next time. You just see that your senses are enhanced, making it a lot easier for you to find me. You don't think about the fact that _you can't see, _and this _is _a handicap, not an advantage." With that blunt statement, he left in a puff of smoke.

"I would like for you to report to my office at the academy at 7 a.m. tomorrow, Uchiha-san…"

The prefix was said in a weak voice, just like Hinata had greeted him, the traitor. Sasuke wondered if everyone in the city would treat him the same way as Neji, or like Iruka and Hinata.

But damn it, why was he even _thinking _about it? It wasn't like he had returned here willingly, so he shouldn't have to stand the disgusted whispers of the villagers, even if he had yet to meet any civilians.

While Sasuke had been lost in thoughts, Iruka and Naruto exchanged hushed farewells, then the older Ninja had left.

"Sasuke, -" Naruto said, but Sasuke beat him to it.

"Let's return to the Uchiha Estates."

As they jumped through the trees, Naruto wondered for how long Sasuke hadn't been able to call it _home._

- - -

Naruto was thinking.

Food. Food! They needed food, and Naruto _didn't _know how to cook. He always ate out (for breakfast he'd tried to make some onigiri, but as he'd tasted them, he wished he'd spent more time learning how to cook), or cooked ramen, or he'd eat at his friends' place.

The problem was that he couldn't go out to leave Sasuke alone, Sasuke had made it clear that he _wouldn't _eat ramen, and Naruto was pretty sure Sasuke would refuse to go out, and his friends would probably refuse to let them in.

"Childish bastard! Let's go out buy some food!" Naruto growled.

Naruto sat in the kitchen, and Sasuke had barricaded himself in his room.

"Says _you_!" Sasuke said. Naruto barely heard him. "You dragged me here for _this?_"

The blonde wasn't quite sure what his friend was talking about, but he didn't like it. He frowned at the twinge he felt in his chest.

"Let us worry about your feelings later, bastard. Right now, let's worry about food."

No reply.

"Argh! I give up, teme!"

A _very _angry Naruto walked to the kitchen window, and opened it.

"Leaving to buy some food!" he shouted. "Come take care of the god damn _asshole_!" He yelled the last part extra loud. Just for Sasuke's sake.

He then went and opened the front door. Two ANBU stood there silently.

"He's all yours," he said and stormed out of the building.

-

Half an hour later, Naruto returned.

"Food!" he yelled, as he came in and put the sushi down on the table. "Good food!"

Silence.

Something was wrong.

"Uzumaki-kun."

Naruto glanced up.

"The hokage's office."

_Blink._

And Naruto was gone.

- - -

"What happened?"

Naruto's voice was solemn and his face was grim as he swung in through the window.

"You can use the door, brat."

Naruto stood in front of Tsunade's desk. The old woman sighed. "Sasuke tried to escape."

The blonde clenched his fists, staring down at the desk in front of him, focusing on a sealed scroll. He couldn't look her in the eyes. He'd failed her. He'd failed one of the first persons to ever acknowledge him.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice showing no emotion, but his body language showing more than enough.

"Don't be. It wasn't under your watch."

"You told Sasuke you'd punish me anyway."

Tsunade frowned, but eyes watched him softly. "I couldn't hurt you for something that wasn't your fault, Naruto."

He didn't say anything to that. "Can I see him?"

The hokage nodded. "I need to tell you some things though. He may return home tomorrow, but I'm placing a seal on him. I can't seal his chakra in the way I would like to, that would interfere with his training, and getting him trained is top priority now. The seal will work like Orochimaru's, excebt it'll take chakra from him should he use a deadly jutsu. He won't need to use such jutsus in practice anyway, I'm sure he's already practiced plenty," she said bitterly. "This seal will last either until I dispel it, or until I die."

She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "It's actually a forbidden technique, but I held an emergency meeting, and the elders and I agreed that it would be for the best."

The blonde didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything.

Tsunade watched him for a few more seconds, and then sighed. "Kakashi, can you show Naruto the way?"

Shocked, Naruto turned around quickly to stare at Kakashi-sensei. He hadn't even noticed he was there.

"Hai," Kakashi said, with no emotions in his voice. "Come, Naruto."

Naruto nodded and followed him out into the hallway.

They walked in silence. Naruto couldn't _believe _how stupid he was. Why had he left Sasuke alone? Well, with two ANBU, but after what Naruto had gone through, there really wasn't many people that he trusted.

"Naruto."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei?"

Hatake Kakashi had long since given up on trying to get the blonde to stop calling him Sensei. "You've got to learn to distance yourself from him."

Naruto glared at the floor as they swung left.

"It'll only hurt you in the end, Naruto.."

He knew that his former sensei was only trying to help him, but _dammit, he just couldn't get it!_

They came to a halt in front of a large, wooden door.

"You don't understand," Naruto said sadly. Kakashi stared at him. "You don't understand… What was the point of bringing him back, if I'm not even allowed to have my best friend?" he said bitterly. "Then I'd be better off with him still at Orochimaru's."

Kakashi watched as Naruto opened the door and entered Ibiki's office.

He had to admit, that Naruto was so full of the life that most shinobi lost out in the field. But at the same time, even though he maybe didn't want to admit it, that was what would eventually kill him.

- - -

"Why did you do it?"

"Why did _you?_"

Naruto stared at his _friend._ "Why did I do what?"

Sasuke seemed to have taken his second encounter with Ibiki better than the first. "Why did you bring me back?" Naruto could hear the anger in his voice. "Why, when I had made _my _choice? Don't you see that they're driving me mad?"

One of Ibiki's minions injected some form of sleeping potion.

"They sat there, just _staring _at me through their masks, _accusing _me with their eyes, when I've done _nothing _wrong. They deserved it. Anyone would want to get away."

Naruto watched with sad eyes as his friend was put to sleep without resisting.

"Don't worry," Tsunade materialized next to him. He gave a small yelp. Hokages could be scary.

"He may talk big, but remember… He _never _tried to hurt you, he never tried to get away when you were there."

Tsunade opened the scroll that Naruto had stared at earlier.

- - -

Sasuke stared with dull, numb eyes into where he knew the mirror was.

Directing his thoughts to the second seal.

- - -

_Please review! ___


	7. Pieces Mended

**Autor's note; please read.**

Yesss. This is what I've been working on. It's short. I don't really care for it. The story isn't too cooperative with me, and I've got a bit of trouble just.. Pairing the pieces together. I need a beta, seriously. If you know anyone who'd make a good beta, please E-mail / comment / PM me. I really need someone to discuss this stuff with 

Anyway, here goes nothing. Please give me _constructive criticism_. I know this chapter is crap and it seems forced. I spent two eternities trying to make it look better, but it didn't work. :P So, yeah. Constructive criticism!

(And before I forget: thank to those who helped me fix some mistakes in chapter 6!)

This chapter is dedicated to _all those who reviewed, _and my beautiful Tsiedo; you guys will always be my never ending source of inspiration and motivation.

_Pieces Mended _is a song by The Used. Don't own, don't sue.

- - -

_Chapter 7 – Pieces mended_

"Uzumaki-san?"

A quiet voice interrupted Naruto's silent brooding. He sat at the top of the Hokage's mountain, staring out over the village, like he always did when he needed to go someplace to think. It was always void of people, because of the slight chill and the winds.

Naruto threw a backward glance at the young boy, and then resumed staring out over the city.

"You shouldn't be up here alone, Hisoka-sama." He knew that there was no need to call him that, but he did it anyway out of respect.

"Good thing I'm not alone then, isn't it?" witty and diplomatic, as a Kage's son and a future mizukage should be. Hisoka took a place next to Naruto, somewhere on Yondaime's head. Naruto still felt a bit guilty for leaving him and his mother alone with Sakura and Kiba while on the ANBU-mission.

"The hidden village of leaf is very different from the hidden village of mist."

"Well, we've got a better viewing distance, that's for sure," Naruto attempted to make a joke, but it was obvious his mind was somewhere else.

"Something is wrong," Hisoka pointed out in that calm eerie voice of his.

"Hm?" Naruto said, feigning ignorance.

"With you. Something is wrong with you."

"Should I take that as an insult?" Naruto tried to stall. He felt ridiculous, as if his emotions were so obvious that even a child would notice. But on the other hand, this was no normal child.

"You know what I mean." The mizukage's son turned to stare at him with his penetrating black eyes. His lips were set in a grim line, as always.

Naruto refused to give up. He just kept staring, down at the working people of Konoha, from the Hokage's mountain.

"Suit yourself."

Naruto and Hisoka kept quiet, which was a rarity for the first of the two.

Naruto shifted his gaze from the city to the to-be mizukage. How old was he, about the same age as Konohamaru? Naruto amused himself with the thought of indulging Konohamaru with this information and snickered, but quickly decided it a much too mean plan to follow through. There was a different system in Kirigakure; much like the Sunagakure in Sunagakure, where Gaara reigned. There, the title of Kage was passed down and inherited; while in Konoha it was earned through hard work and competition between other candidates. While Konohamaru sadly didn't have what it took to become hokage, he'd probably fought a lot harder for the position than Hisoka.

It may have seemed that Konoha's system was more fair, but Naruto had to admit that the title always managed to be passed on to someone worthy.

And it was weird, in a way. Gaara, the boy who had been hated his entire life, fighting so hard for the village that had shunned him because of what lay sealed inside him, and Naruto, always being dismissed as the monster which resided inside him, was at the age of _twelve _accepted by Tsunade, the fifth hokage.

Hisoka.. Hisoka was different. He had always been loved, he'd always had friends, and in a way, Naruto was bitter. Because, didn't he have a demon sealed inside him too? Then why was he treated differently?

"What makes you so different?" Naruto murmured his thoughts out loud.

Hisoka had the decency to look confused as he glanced back at Naruto. "Excuse me?"

"Gaara and I.. we were always hated for what was inside of us. Why are you so different?"

Hisoka looked taken aback and Naruto wondered if it had been wrong to bring it up so abruptly. After all, he _was _still a child, and Naruto was sure he'd been spoiled. He probably hadn't even been on a mission.

He probably hadn't even seen someone die, much less been their cause of death.

_And__ god damn it, It's unfair!_

"I.. Gaara?" Hisoka recognized it, and tasted the name on his tongue. "Gaara... You mean the fifth Kazekage?"

Naruto gave a small nod.

"I'm not sure, but I can guess," Hisoka said honestly. Naruto was mildly surprised that he'd lost his calm, all-knowing attitude. "I don't know that much about it, but I assume that it is because you were blamed for Yondaime's death when you were young. Gaara, now the fifth Kazekage was hated by his father, and seeing as he was a respectable leader, everyone simply decided to follow. Him being able to control sand.. I can't imagine it helped."

Naruto smiled. The villages knew too much about each other, and the young inexperienced boy had given it away. He'd have to talk to Tsunade about that.

"And me.. no one died, did they? And so my father still treats me with respect, even though the love was lost the minute _it _was sealed inside me."

Naruto thought about that for a minute. "So _one _person changed it all?"

Hisoka shrugged, looking uncomfortable. But Naruto wouldn't let him away that easily.

"_One _person? So if I had been accepted by one person, the rest would have followed?"

"I can't help you with that, Uzumaki-san. Please don't dwell on it." Hisoka was once again calm and seemingly much too mature.

"After all.. I'm sure that someonewill notice you're up here some day, since all you do on your free time is to sit here and guard the city that hates you."

An insult braided with a compliment, but as it made him hope, it stung as well.

Naruto stood up abruptly and frowned at the smile on Hisoka's face.

"Hisoka-sama," he offered a small nod as farewell, and then disappeared abruptly.

- - -

Sasuke didn't know what was going on.

He stared, he stared, and he _stared _and _oh GOD _how he wished something would just appear. A flicker; a light, anythingin the darkness. He now realized how stupid he had been. He'd fought so hard to obtain the Sharingan, once.

_Once._

Now he was able to appreciate those days. The days when he could see the snow, instead of just feeling its cold. To be blinded by the sun, instead of just boiling in the indescribable heat.

In some of the most hopeless of days, without his eyes, it felt as if the rain was an attacker too strong for him to conquer.

There was some sort of mixed melancholy. He wished he could go back in time. He wished he could return to the days when he'd seen his teammates, seen them as a hindrance; because if he could, he'd appreciate them instead of acting the way he'd done before.

_Once._

While he did believe that Orochimaru had taught him important things, he knew (however much he wanted to deny it,) that he still wasn't at Itachis level.

So, what had really happened, to his benefit, in the last four years?

A question he couldn't answer.

Honestly? A secret that would never be spoken; sometimes, more often that he wanted, Sasuke wished he'd stayed. Instead of pursuing revenge, maybe he should have stayed to take comfort.

Maybe if he had listened to Kakashi-sensei, he'd have been able to maybe _smile _at Sakura's jokes.

Maybe he should have stayed…

To find comfort in the naïve, optimistic smiles and happiness in the hopeful blue eyes of the person who'd come to get under his skin.

"Uhiha?" he heard the baritone of Ibiki. "'s time to go."

But then, Sasuke always came back to his senses.

- - -

"You know, we _do _have doors, and they work _perfectly well_." Tsunade continued to stare down at the paper on her desk as she noticed the other presence. "I hope that some day, the guards mistake you for a spy or something."

"You'd miss me if I died," Naruto grinned.

"Pft. You are banned from my window, brat. Now what do you want? I'm busy."

"You know.. _him._"

Tsunade shot Naruto a sharp look, choosing her words carefully before she dared to voice her thoughts. "…are you sure that's the best course of action?"

"Eh? What d'you mean, baa-san?"

"I know you've probably heard it from others as well, but don't get _too _close to him." Naruto opened his mouth again, but Tsunade wouldn't let him speak. "I _cannot _stress this enough. This probably isn't even the same Sasuke you remember. And the Sasuke you _do _remember.. what he did before he betrayed Konoha… it should be enough to ring a bell."

The blonde boy remained silent. It was useless. They didn't understand that it didn't _matter _to him. If this wasn't the Sasuke he knew, he'd force that Sasuke to come back, like he had brought back the weak body less than a week before.

_Why is it so hard for them to understand? What are they thinking? That he isn't worth it? That I haven't got the strength to do it? Haven't I proven them _wrong

Naruto knew that they didn't understand. Tsunade knew that Naruto thought she didn't understand. When it came to some things, Naruto was a child.

Tsunade sighed, admitting defeat in the short battle. It really was useless. "He's being escorted here from Ibiki's. The surveillance over his house has nearly been doubled. Naruto.." She gave him a helpless look. "He may not leave the village, but you know, that doesn't mean he won't be able to break you."

Naruto shook his head. "Thank you for your concern, hokage-sama."

"Remember.." she said, at the same time as the door opened.

"Just _tell me _if it becomes too much, and we'll … " the sentence fell on deaf ears as Naruto's attention turned elsewhere.

- - -

Naruto stared defiantly at Sasuke.

"Why did you do it?"

Sasuke leaned back nonchalantly, finding support in the wall.

"_Why did you do it_?" he repeated.

No answer. Sasuke just crossed his arms.

"Answer me, teme! Why did you god damn do it?"

"Dobe. Did you ever think of the fact that it was for the same reason I left the first time?"

Naruto clenched his fist. "Orochimaru?"

Smirk. "Orochimaru's dead."

Naruto's eyes darkened, and he felt something stir inside him.. "Aah. So you betrayed him to. Shouldn't have expected anything else."

_Orochimaru's dead?_

"Yeah well. I took his life, he took my sharingan. The sad part is that what he stole from me is probably worth more than him." There was an odd, dark irony in Sasuke's voice.

"Then _why did you do-_"

Naruto barely managed to catch the fist before it made contact with his face.

"It's none of your god damn business. You'd never understand anyway. How does it feel, Naruto? Being weak? Did you cry when you killed your first person? Did you cry when you killed your first woman, your first child?"

Naruto's face hardened as he felt Sasuke's whisper against his ear. "Do you still cry, Naruto?"

Naruto turned Sasuke's fist in his hand. The dark-eyed boy withdrew it as pain shot through his wrist.

"Do you still cry over your dead clan, Sasuke?"

Sasuke remained silent.

"Do you still see your mother, begging for her life? Your father's eyes, as he was betrayed by his precious son? Sasuke.. Do you still cry because he was their most precious person?"

The brunette was rendered speechless. In a way, he was thankful. For being humiliated, he was thankful for being acknowledged.

He was thankful that Naruto understood.

"You know.. I _don't _cry. I think about it a lot, though. Do you know how many times I've thought that, maybe if Sasuke was still on the team.. It wouldn't have ended this way."

It felt like the Valley of End all over again. Sasuke felt Naruto's hands grip his, as if preventing an attack to come.

"'cause, you know.. You're still my precious person, Sasuke. Don't for a _second _believe that I'll let you ruin your life again. Don't you _dare _to think that I'll let you ruin mine."

_A young boy with glowing red eyes stared him straight in the eyes. __"To me.." came the firm voice of his only friend. "This is a bond I've finally made."_

Naruto's grip on Sasuke's hands loosened. Sasuke remained completely motionless as hesitant arms encircled him. Embraced him.

If this would have happened any other day, Sasuke would have probably pushed the boy away. But he didn't.

"… a little out of character, idiot?" While the insult was rough, Naruto wouldn't let go of his best friend.

And so Sasuke decided that before he comes back to his senses…

He could, this _once_, find comfort in his ex-friend.

- - - - - -

Well.. Fuck this. Crappy chapter. goes off to kick pots

If you know anyone willing to beta for me, please just.. contact me in some way :P


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